Kristmundur Þór Ólafsson is a Programme Manager at The Institute of International Affairs and the Centre for Arctic Studies. He joined the Institute in April 2023 but has worked at the University of Iceland since 2019, managing European research projects and research proposal development at a joint Project management office.

Kristmundur has worked on international relations for over a decade. As a Senior Advisor at the Icelandic Centre for Research from 2013-2019 and from 2011-2013 at the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Iceland’s accession negotiations with the European Union.

Kristmundur holds a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Iceland. Kristmundur also holds an IPMA project management certification. Kristmundur has several publications in international relations on the themes of security policy, sub-regional cooperation, Nordic cooperation, and Arctic cooperation. Kristmundur has taught a graduate-level course on Non-state actors and non-military security at the University of Iceland.