Profile

Karol Olejniczak, Ph.D., is an associate professor of public policy and a co-founder of policy research company Evaluation for Government Organizations (EGO s.c.).

His work focuses on the intersection of policy design and evaluation, and the use of evidence in decision-making. In his research and teaching, he utilizes games, experiments, and behavioral design.

He has twenty years of experience in applied research and training for numerous institutions around the world such as the European Commission, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and various public agencies in Poland, including The Chancellery of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Polish Agency of Enterprise Development, National Science Center, The National Centre for Research and Development.

For eight years, he had been a Program Director of Academy of Evaluation, an elite post-graduate program for Polish civil servants, run jointly by EUROREG – University of Warsaw and the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy.

He has been sharing his work in numerous book publications, including the six-volume series Ministerstwa Uczące Się (Learning Ministries), and articles in leading scientific journals such as the American Journal of Evaluation, Policy Design and Practice, Policy and Politics.

Professor Olejniczak was the Ostroms' Policy Analysis Workshop fellow (2006 – Indiana University) and Kosciuszko Foundation Fellow (2012 – The George Washington University). He was awarded the title of Evaluator of the Year by the Polish government for his extensive applied research (2014), and the University of Warsaw Award for Excellence in Teaching Social Science (2016).

He is currently running a policy lab on innovative public services with Polish local municipalities and consulting with U.S. Federal agencies to develop learning agendas.

At SWPS University, he teaches courses on public policy, academic culture, and academic writing.