Thomas Olander

Thomas Olander is an Associate Professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at the Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. He has been in this position since 2019 and has led several major research projects focused on the Indo-European language family.

His educational background includes:

• DPhil in Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, University of Copenhagen (2015)
• Ph.D. in Slavic and Baltic historical linguistics, University of Copenhagen (2006)
• M.A. in Indo-European Linguistics, University of Copenhagen (2002)
• B.A. in Indo-European Linguistics and Bulgarian, University of Copenhagen (1999)

Thomas Olander specializes in comparative Indo-European linguistics with a focus on reconstructing the Proto-Indo-European language and understanding the relationships between its various branches. His research interests include the Indo-European homeland problem, historical grammar of Slavic and Baltic languages, and Danish linguistics. He has led significant research projects such as "Connecting the Dots: Reconfiguring the Indo-European family tree" (2019-2023) and "The homeland: In the footprints of the early Indo-Europeans" (2015-2018).

His publications show a strong focus on phylogenetic approaches to understanding language relationships, with particular attention to Slavic languages within the broader Indo-European context. His work often bridges linguistic evidence with archaeological findings to address questions about prehistoric language spread and development.

Among his notable achievements is the Einar Hansens Forskningspris award received in 2022.

Professor Olander teaches various Indo-European disciplines, including historical grammar of specific Indo-European languages and Indo-European morphology. He has also taught courses on Danish phonetics, morphology, syntax, and historical grammar, as well as Bulgarian language.

He is currently a core member of the LAMP (Languages and Myths of Prehistory) research project (2020-2025), which takes an interdisciplinary approach to examining the relationship between languages, material culture, and myths at prehistoric stages of Indo-European languages.