Dr Brian O'Callaghan

Profile

Brian O'Callaghan is a Lead Researcher and Project Manager at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.

His core research concerns the economic and environmental impacts of government investment (fiscal policy) and other associated questions of public finance (e.g., sustainable debt, supply chains). He has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence for green public finance.

He is interested in the role of green government policy in constrained economic environments (e.g., periods of economic distress) and how this relates to private investment.

Brian launched and is the Lead Researcher for the Smith School’s program on Government Policy and Investment (formally Oxford University Economic Recovery Project). Brian’s team runs the Oxford-UN Global Recovery Observatory and developed the Sustainable Budgeting Approach.

He is Senior Advisor on Climate Finance to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and to the Sustainable Debt Coalition. He regularly consults to governments and businesses on topics of green finance and green technology. He is also a regular advisor of philanthropic partners and the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. Brian was formerly a Research Fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School and a consultant at Boston Consulting Group.

Brian holds a DPhil in environmental economics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He holds dual undergraduate degrees in Engineering (First Class Honours and the University Medal) and Commerce (Finance and International Business) from the University of Sydney.