Olav Smidsrod was born in 1936 and has been associated to the Norwegian Technical University (NTH; later NTNU) since the early 1960's. His main research contribution has been within the field of chemistry and physical properties of biopolymers, including biopolymers of marine origin (alginate, chitosan and carrageenan) and also microbial biopolymers such as xanthan gum.
He is well known for his ability to combine fundamental understanding of bipolymers and the challenges of industrial products. He has co-authored more than 200 peer - reviewed papers as well as publishing several patents and book chapters.