Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson

Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson (also Olaf Olafsson ; born August 26, 1962 in Reykjavík , Iceland ) is an Icelandic author and manager. He is married with three children and lives in the USA . The Icelandic writer Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson was his father.

Life

After graduating from high school, he went abroad to continue his studies and graduated in 1985 as a physicist from the American Brandeis University in Massachusetts .

After completing his studies, Ólafur worked for the US subsidiary of the electronics company Sony from 1985 . As president of the Sony Electronic Publishing division , founded in 1991, he organized Sony's entry into the video game industry. These included the activities of the publisher Sony Imageworks , the takeover of the British developer Psygnosis in 1993 and the launch of the PlayStation game console on the western markets in 1995.

From 1996 to 1999 he worked for Advanta and in 1999 became Vice Chairman of Time Warner Digital Media.

Works

Nevertheless, Ólafur always found time to write. Initially, these were articles for scientific journals. In 1986 he published a collection of short stories under the title Níu lyklar . His first novel, Markaðstorg guðanna , was published in 1988. Since then he has written a number of novels and plays.

The novel Fyrirgefning syndanna (1991, German: Forgiveness of Sins , 1995, from the Icelandic by Moritz Kirsch) was nominated for the Icelandic Literature Prize. The play Fjögur hjörtu premiered in 1997 at Loftkastalinn Theater. An adaptation of his novel Sniglaveislan premiered in 2001 by the Akureyri Drama Society. The novel Slóð fiðrildanna (1999, German: The Way Home , 2002, from the English by Christiane Winkler) is to be made into a film by Paloma Pictures in Hollywood.

literature

• Olaf the Great. In: New York Magazine, February 14, 1994, p. 40, English. Digitized at Google Books
• Charles Platt : WordNerd. In: Wired, issue 3.10, October 1995. - Interview with Olaf Olafsson (English)

Web links

• Works by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson in the catalog of the German National Library
• Portrait of Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson at the Reykjavík City Library (English)

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .