Odd-Helge holds a PhD in economics from the Norwegian School of Economics. He has published widely, both scholarly and policy-oriented, on tax and development. His work has appeared in leading international academic journals such as The Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, World Development, Journal of Development Studies, and Journal of Modern African Studies, and in books by Cambridge University Press, ZED/University of Chicago Press, Edward Elgar and Routledge.
Odd-Helge has extensive experience in research management and has served as director of major multidisciplinary research and capacity building programmes. He has more than 30 years of experience from research and policy analysis in East and Southern Africa. His work has involved long-term collaboration with research institutions in Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. He has been advisor for several African governments on public financial management, and has worked as consultant for bilateral and multilateral development organisations, including Danida, DFID, Norad, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, OECD, IFC and the World Bank. His experience also covers teaching, supervision and training in economic policy analysis, fiscal reforms, governance and the economics of corruption. Odd-Helge is Extraordinary Professor at the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, and Senior Fellow of the International Centre for Tax and Development.