Olafur Thordarson, was born in 1963 and raised up in Reykjavik Iceland. He developed design skills through his very early training in carpentry and crafts. Later, by age 19, he had already composed his first architectural design portfolio prior to any formal education in the field.

     Thordarson received his degree in Natural Sciences from the Reykjavik M.H. College in 1983. He completed his BS degree in architecture at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1986 and began his formal training in architecture working for the State Architect of Iceland in Reykjavik in 1987. He completed his Master of Science in Architecture at Columbia University in New York. There he studied under prominent teachers such as Kenneth Frampton and Steven Holl and had a reader with the well-known architect Robert A.M. Stern. He also free-lanced for a number of New York architectural firms: Agrest and Gandelsonas; I.M. Pei; and K.P.F.

     He worked for seven years with the Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce, as vice president of Pesce Ltd. in New York City. Olafur Thordarson was a project architect and designer on numerous architectural projects, such as the Organic Building in Japan and the Portrait Apartment in New York City.  He designed and initiated many of the industrial design concepts at Pesce's studio, including the award winning umbrella chair. He was also heavily involved with a Pesce exhibit at the Pompidou Center, which received a design award by the ID Magazine.

      Thordarson has privately created a substantial collection of architectural designs, conceptual furniture and art work. His multidisciplinary work has been published in design magazines such as Intramuros and Interior Design as well as in newspapers like Icelandic Morgunblašiš and The New York Times. He is currently teaching industrial at Rhode Island School of Design. He has been a guest lecturer at Design Days New York and at the Architecture School at the University of Wisconsin and given class lectures at Parsons School of Design in New York. He has been a visiting critic at many east coast design schools, such as RISD, Pratt, Parsons and Columbia University. His work has recently been exhibited at the University of Wisconsin -Milwaukee and at the Soho20 gallery in Soho, New York. He exhibited his furniture at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob Javits Center in New York.  He also was presented twice in 1999 by the Klisanin Ross Gallery. First in a group exhibit of furniture designers and then with his solo exhibit of design, art, furniture and architecture. The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, also exhibited his work in 1999. His objects can currently be seen at New York City galleries such as Material Connexion, John Elder Gallery and Gallery 91. In Copenhagen, Gallery Copen carries some of his clocks.

      Thordarson has participated independently in numerous Icelandic architectural competitions, with the intention of injecting an alternative design discourse. In 1996, Reykjavik City and The Icelandic Architecture Association awarded him an honorable mention for his urban design proposal for 8,400 inhabitants.

     Thordarson established his company with partner Donna Fumoso: Dingaling Studio, inc. in New York City in 1998. The company focuses on the interdisciplinary fields of architecture, fashion and design. Thordarson and Fumoso co-edit a monthly web-publication das boot which focuses on representing talents from various fields.