Adjunct Professor Profile - Nilss Olekalns

Nilss Olekalns
B.Ec (Hons) Adelaide, M.Ec ANU, MA West Ont, PhD Latrobe

Nilss Olekalns is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne. During his career he has held appointments at LaTrobe University and the Reserve Bank of Australia. His main areas of research are macroeconomics and public economics. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. and a lecturer in courses for the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Professor Olekalns received his B.Ec (Hons) from the University of Adelaide and went on to gain his M.Ec from ANU and an MA from the University of Western Ontario. Later he received his PhD from LaTrobe University. He has researched a variety of subjects which include fiscal policy, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, commodity prices, and the consumption of addictive goods. Amongst his publications he has received the accolade of 'Best Paper Published in the Economic Record' in 1999 for his article with P. Bardsley, 'Cigarette and Tobacco Consumption: Have Anti-Smoking Policies Made a Difference' and also the 'Best Paper Published in the Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics' for a paper on Wool Price Variability, also written with Bardsley, in 1996.