Jorunn Økland was born in the mid-Sixties in oil boomtown Stavanger, Norway. She studied theology and classical languages at the University of Oslo, where she held the posts of research assistant in philosophy, tutor in classical Greek language and lecturer in biblical studies before she moved to the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK, as a lecturer and senior lecturer. Among her books, "Women in their Place" and "The Way the World Ends" have been the topics of dedicated sessions at specialist conferences (Society of Biblical Literature). In 2007 she became professor of gender studies in the Humanities, and from 2010 she is the director of the Centre for Gender Research at the University of Oslo. She is currently the president of European Association of Biblical Studies, and Chair of the Council for Gender Studies in Norway.