Ari Björn Ólafsson is a software developer from Reykjavik, Iceland with years of versatile experience in different sectors ranging from banking, aviation, machine learning, travel tech, business operations, car parking, fisheries logistics, payments, ticket systems, government backed research, information security, cartography, multimedia, web technologies and more.

Often intrigued by hackathons or startup accelerators, I have, with consistent success, competed in software, hacking or business related events throughout the years, teamed up with friends, family and colleagues.

I am genuinely passionate about technology. I do what I love, and I love what I do. Even with unlimited money and resources, I would continue my career in IT, startups, and various business domains, always working hard to help my employers, friends, partners, and clients achieve their business goals.

Any cultural claims are anecdotal and not based on any real evidence. These are my observations and my opinions.

The following summary does not breach any NDAs. The information provided is either sourced from public websites linked to each claim or covered by termination agreements that explicitly void any liability from previously agreed NDA clauses in the employment contract or any other related clauses.

I will refer to myself in third person following this statement.

Here are some notable repositories on this GitHub account to get you started:

• This script determines a game's rank on Steam's popular wishlist and caches the data for quick subsequent lookups.
• Skills Demonstrated: Proficiency in Python, handling HTTP parallel requests, caching data, working with standard libraries like urllib and json, and developing efficient automation scripts.
• Additional Comments: An over-all user-friendly project. Link

Here are some notable repositories on this GitHub account to get you started:

• This script extracts glyphs from a WOFF2 font file and saves them as individual SVG files.
• Skills Demonstrated: Proficiency in Python, handling font files / vectors, and utilizing libraries like fontTools and brotli for specific tasks.
• Additional Comments: An over-all user-friendly project. Link

• A simple HTML, CSS, and JavaScript-based game where players stack blocks. The blocks reduce in size based on overlap, increasing the challenge.
• Skills Demonstrated: Front-end development with interactive elements, game logic implementation, and dynamic UI updates.
• Additional Comments: Engaging project with a fun concept. Adding a live demo link in the README is great. Link

• This script crawls a website to download media files (audio, video, images) and categorizes them into folders.
• Skills Demonstrated: Web scraping, handling different media formats, and using external tools like ffmpeg for media conversion.
• Additional Comments: Comprehensive README with clear instructions and examples. Link

• An ASP.NET Core Web API project demonstrating C# patterns, OpenAPI, and Entity Framework.
• Skills Demonstrated: Backend development with ASP.NET Core, database management, and API design.
• Additional Comments: Detailed setup instructions are helpful. Link

• Companion application to the Article Database Connector, consuming its API to demonstrate interaction and data retrieval.
• Skills Demonstrated: API consumption, application integration, and client-server interaction.
• Additional Comments: Clear linkage between this project and the Article Database Connector. Link

• A starter template for a Bootstrap-based web project, including predefined file paths for Bootstrap and jQuery, facilitating easy setup of a basic web page. CSS used to animate a static image.
• Skills Demonstrated: Front-end development, Bootstrap framework integration, build tools usage (npm and Gulp), and organized project structure. CSS animations.
• Additional Comments: The README provides helpful setup instructions. The project suits beginners and more experienced developers with advanced usage instructions. Link

• This repository is a collection of Python scripts and projects that showcase various aspects of Python programming, including data analysis, web scraping, and automation tasks and solutions to LeetCode / Hackerrank assignments.
• Skills Demonstrated: Python programming, mathematics, game theory, data manipulation, algorithms, automation, and script development.
• Additional Comments: Admittingly, the repository could benefit from more detailed documentation and examples of use cases for the scripts, although they are created mainly to solve assignments. Link

• A collaborative project focused on developing a comprehensive application or tool for mapping and displaying real-time geographic or natural events. The project involves multiple contributors and demonstrates teamwork, design, programming and project management.
• Skills Demonstrated: Team collaboration, project management, application development, and potentially specific technologies used in the project. Link

• This repository integrates Firebase with an application focused on animals, possibly for data storage, authentication, or real-time updates.
• Skills Demonstrated: Firebase integration, backend development, real-time database management, authentication, and cloud functions. Link

• A hackathon project developed for DataHack Iceland, a web application / tool created to solve a specific problem presented during the hackathon in regards to health care applications. Our application was an iOs app that enabled users to import their medical data, and enter a commercial OR academic name for any legal or illegal substance to display potential harmful drug interactions.
• Skills Demonstrated: Hackathon project management, rapid prototyping, web development using Ember.js, TypeScript, CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. Link

• A joke script that mimics a virus but does not cause any harm, or do anything at all. It displays a fake warning message.
• Skills Demonstrated: Scripting, user interaction, and understanding of creating safe, non-malicious code for educational or entertainment purposes.
• Additional Comments: The script is safe and purely for fun. Link.

• SÝN hf. (Current): Full-stack Software Developer on the Web team at Sýn — Iceland’s publicly traded telecom/media corporation. Work across frontend, API, and backend systems powering national-scale digital platforms, live content delivery, and operational tooling. The role spans everything from React/TypeScript interfaces to .NET service development and AWS infrastructure design, including CI/CD, ECS workloads, S3/SQS pipelines, and Terraform-driven modernization efforts.

• CrewApp ehf.: Recently worked as a software developer in the airline and aviation IT sector. CrewApp aids aviation crew members and ground staff in managing flight operations, enhancing efficiency and operational management.

• Travelshift: Instrumental in the development of vacation packages, dynamic pricing calculations, and the implementation of a new payment handler for Travelshift's sales system. His contributions resulted in significant monthly savings for the company.

• Keeps CMS: Contributed to conceptualizing the technical aspects of the Keeps CMS solution for their presentation at KLAK Startup Supernova. This product aims to centralize photo management and enhance visibility on booking sites and social media. Developed alongside a team of travel professionals. Klak.

  • Following the successful startup accelerator presentation by CEO Guðrún, the remaining members of the team, excluding Ari, went on to further pursue the idea, forma a company and secure investment. Viðskiptablaðið

• Parka Camping - Yfirsýn: As the head of this application during his tenure at Parka Lausnir, then known as Computer Vision ehf., Ari’s leadership helped secure $150k funding from the Icelandic government. The project uses computer vision technology to improve camping security and billing, supported by the Icelandic Technology Development Fund for spring season grants in 2021. Rannís

• Senior Software Developer for TripCreator: Cntributed to TripCreator’s itinerary creation platform for travel agents and Destination Management Companies (DMC) on behalf of Joroma Software.

• Senior Developer for Tix Ticketing: As a Senior Developer for Tix Ticketing, crucial in creating a secure access group system for admin users. He integrated the ticket sales system with the Belgian UitPas system, allowing people to buy tickets with government subsidies. Ari also developed some of the platform's largest and most detailed automatic reports. Additionally, he built a full audit trail system with fast lookup and report generation, significantly improving the platform's security and performance. Tixly

• Santander: Following his hackathon team success, contributed to technological advancements at Santander in Milton Keynes for one and a healf year before moving back to Iceland. Youtube - Open Bank Project

• Overtune: was a contributor during the early stages of Overtune, a music content creation app. Viðskiptablaðið

• Tri.is Cycles Website: as a member of a larger team built the Tri.is website from scratch, ensuring it is immensely responsive and fast, significantly enhancing its functionality and user experience. Tri.is

• Santander Hackathon 2018: Secured a podium finish at the "Build Banking Your Way" event, winning the Best Technical Solution award for the project I am ID, which focused on authentication for banking systems. His success at the hackathon led to a job offer from Santander.

• TM Software / Digi.me Hackathon 2017: Participated in developing an iOS app that integrated with official healthcare data. The app allowed users to input various drugs to check for potential hazardous interactions and travel plans to identify necessary vaccinations. It used both scientific and street names for drugs and provided detailed severity levels for interactions.

  • Awarded $2000 for second place in the contest.

• Data Hack Iceland 2020: Ari was part of the team Hark, which developed a data-maps solution with real-time analysis on various datasets, including geology, urban planning, and air quality. The project focused on the interactions and visualization of different datasets, presented in a well-designed, blazingly fast website. The site explained the data integration methods used to generate the visual data and hosted interactive real-time maps. A clever use case was to overlay several timed datasets on the maps to see how one condition would affect the other.

  • We reached the finals with our solution but lost to a more actionable project which aimed to help people prepare home waste recycling, with a proposed collaboration with the government waste management company.

• Reykjavik Music Hack Day 2012: (text stolen from Grapevine) This app uses the Kinect sensor device to turn the human body into an instrument. The program uses motion and position to interact with an audio program, allowing users to control the volume and speed of a song by moving.

  • Ari was a contributor and live tester / dancer for the product. The application achieved the title "Other notable hacks" by Grapevine Reykjavik Grapevine

• IGI Game Jam, Reykjavik University 2014 - Juiceball: This game was a Burrito Bison clone where the player is an alien ball slinging through the jungle to collect powerups and money for speed and endurance upgrades. Hand drawn graphics by freelance illustrator, Pétur Antonsson, master of fine arts, and bespoke sounds / music.

  • Ari was the composer for the title music as well as the whole sound effects department for the project which was noted for best audio and best visuals.

My diverse experience and achievements underscores the ability to integrate technology to solve real-world problems across various sectors, from healthcare, to aviation and banking to travel and urban planning. My contributions to the Icelandic, Spanish and English tech community and various innovative projects highlight the commitment to leveraging technology for practical and impactful solutions.

I aim to continue exploring new technologies and innovative solutions, with a focus on enhancing user experience and operational efficiency in various industries. Ongoing projects include further development of the Sýn software stack and exploring new ventures in the tech-startup ecosystem.

• 2017 I Co-produced and managed the release of a Various Artists CD of Icelandic Drum N Bass Icebreaker Vol. 1 - Discogs
• 2015 I worked as a production line assistant manager at the Síldarvinnslan fish powder factory for a summer season of 6 months. Síldarvinnslan
• 2014 I was a prison guard in the now retired prison in downtown Reykjavik for a summer season of 6 months. Fangelsismálastofnun
• 2014 / 2015 I was a production assistant as well as one of the interviewees for award winning and nominee Art Documentaries by Swiss director Aurèle Ferrier Infrastructures and Desert Talks.
• I was a production manager and a human resource manager for a research project of sustainable fashion / fabric use of seaweed.
  • The result of my work ended with large scale media production and global critical acclaim as well as very successful hires. Emblamar Studio

• Extremely positive reviews on AirBnb.
• 4.86 stars on Uber over 100+ fares.