Jon Axel Olafsson
Jón Axel Ólafsson (b. September 27th 1963) is a veteran in the Icelandic media industry. He has worked in the media since 1983 as a radio personality, producer and manager. He began working at the state broadcasting service at the age of 20 where he hosted a show for teenagers, a rarity in those days. From early on, he was a part of a movement that demanded free broadcast media in Iceland in a time where the state broadcaster was a monopoly. This struggle ended in 1986 with a comprehensive legislation passed in Althingi, the Icelandic Parliament, that allowed privately owned and operated broadcast media.
Jón Axel has owned and operated two radio stations, Stjarnan (1987-1989) and Matthildur (1997-1999). He co-hosted the popular radio morning show, 'Two of a Kind', that repeatedly set daytime listening records that haven't been matched or broken since. Jón Axel has also been involved with other radio programs that span entertainment, interviewing, current news and special events coverage.
Jón Axel's involvement with media hasn't been limited to programming. He has worked as a manager and VP for almost every media company in Iceland, specializing in turnaround management and restructuring. The longest involvement has been with 365 Media, the largest privately owned media company in Iceland.
The communications sector has also been of interest to Jón Axel. He has worked for many companies in a consulting and project management capacity, most recently the 3G startup company Nova.
Among most notable achievements in the media industry are:
Edda Publishing - Owner
Jon Axel acquired Edda Publishing in the beginning of 2009. The company specialises in the publication of books and magazines. Edda Publishing is the Disney license holder for Iceland.
365 Media - Decoder Upgrade Project / Project Manager
Supervision of planning, installation, marketing, technical solutions and presentation. Organization of sales activities and negotiations with foreign television companies along with personnel management.
365 Media - MMDS Service Launch / Project Manager
Organization of sales activities and negotiations with foreign television companies along with personnel management.
365 Media - Channel 2 (TV) Distribution Network / Project Manager
Organization of the expansion of the Channel 2 distribution network. Conducted initial feasibility study, marketing, promotion and sales of subscriptions.
Árvakur - Morgunblaðið - mbl.is newspaper and portal / Marketing- and development
Marketing manager with additional responsibilities for R&D. Consultant to the CEO in operation and in the area of multi-media and new content development. Content and online development along with strategy coordination. Innovation management and business development.
Alongside his involvement with media and communications, Jón Axel ran his own marketing and consulting service, The Marketing Company, that handled numerous projects in its time.
Education
Jón Axel has an MBA degree and a B.Sc. degree in Business Administration from Reykjavik University, Iceland.