Sara Olsvig, PhD

Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council

Sara Olsvig, PhD, is the Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (2022–2026). As an Inuk leader she is a dedicated defender of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and human rights.

Dr. Olsvig holds extensive experience in politics and international advocacy. She has served as member of the Parliament of Denmark (2011–2015) and the Parliament of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) (2013–2018). Olsvig was Vice Premier and Minister for Social Affairs, Families, Gender Equality and Justice from 2016 to 2018. As a parliamentarian, she served as chair of the Arctic Parliamentarians Committee. Olsvig contributed actively to the work of Greenland’s Constitutional Commission and the Greenland Human Rights Council. In 2024, Sara Olsvig was a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals and is a recipient of the 2023 Womenomics Inclusion Award.

Olsvig holds a Master of Science in Anthropology from the University of Copenhagen, and a PhD-degree in Arctic studies from Ilisimatusarfik – the University of Greenland.