photo: Liba Taylor

 

Born 4 August 1964

Married to Michaela Vovková (b. 1972, diplomat), son Sebastián (b. 2007)

Education:

1985 - 1995: Arabic, Asian and African Studies, Charles´ University, Prague    

1988: Arabic Language, Bourghiba Institute of Living Languages, Tunis

1990 - 1992: International Relations and Comparative European Social Studies, University of Amsterdam

Awards:

2011     The Mark Palmer Prize for Diplomats

(conferred by the Intl. Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies to diplomats who has advanced the cause of democracy,

6th Ministerial of Community of Democracies, July 1, 2011, Vilnius)

Work Experience:

Sep 1983 - Jun 1984:               lighting technician, Interhotel Jalta, Prague

Aug 1984 - Jun 1985:              researcher, Res. Inst. of Mathematical Machines, Prague

Jul 1985 - Aug 1986: freelance translator and interpreter, Prague

Mar 1990 - Jan 1992:              deputy editor-in-chief, Ikarie science fiction monthly, Prague

Jun 1992:        joined diplomatic service

Jun 1992 - Jan 1993:   desk officer, Dept. of the Middle East and North Africa

Feb 1993 - Jan 1996: advisor to the First Deputy Minister Alexandr Vondra,

in charge of arms control, arms trade and related items

Feb 1996 - May 1997:              director, African Department

May 1997 - Oct 1998:              deputy director, Dept. of the Middle East and Africa

Oct 1998 - Oct 1999: director, African Department

1999:                appointed ambassador

May 2000 - Aug 2006:  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Zimbabwe,

concurrently accredited also to:

the Republic of Mozambique (Nov. 2000),

the Republic of Angola (Dec. 2000),

the Democratic Rep. of Sao Tomé et Principe (May 2001),

the Republic of Zambia (Dec. 2002), and

the Republic of Malawi (Oct. 2003), resident in Harare

Oct 2006 - Apr 2007:              deputy director, Policy Planning Dept.

Apr 2007 - Jan 2008: acting director, Policy Planning Dept.

Sep 2008 – now           Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Korea

Diplomatic experience:

Member and head of Czech delegations dealing with arms export and dual-use products (post-COCOM, Wassenaar arrangement etc.) – Prague, Brussels, the Hague, Vienna 1993-1996

Head of Czech humanitarian missions to Rwanda and Uganda - 1994

Member of delegation establishing the diplomatic relations with Independent State of Papua New Guinea and Brunei Darussalaam – Port Moresby, Bandar Seri Begawan 1995

Head of delegation establishing the diplomatic relations with the Republic of Liberia - Monrovia 1998

Responsible for establishing the diplomatic relations with the Pacific countries

In various diplomatic capacities visited 50+ countries, from Kyrgyzstan to the DRCongo, from Iraq to Equatorial Guinea

Other:

Jaroslav Olša, jr. is also author of books and articles on history, culture and literature of Africa and Asia, he also widely wrote about science fiction literature. He has published in wide-range of publications such as Czech edition of National Geographic, Nový Orient (New Orient), Světová literatura (World Literature), Mezinárodní politika (Foreign Policy), Mezinárodní vztahy (International Relations). Contributed to various Czech and foreign-language encyclopedias.

Selected publications:

1901 photographs of Seoul by Enrique Stanko Vráz and other early Czech travellers´ views of Korea / 1901년 체코인 브라즈의 서울 방문. 체코 여행기들의 서울 이야기 – book of old photographs of Seoul and a history of Czech exploration of Korea until World War II, in English and Korean.

Seoul: Seoul Museum of History 2011.

Short Stories of Czech Classics(체코 단편소설 걸작선, with Ivana Bozděchová) – anthology of Czech fiction from the 19th and early 20th century in Korean.

Seoul: Happy Reading Books 2011.

Behave Like a Decent Corpse(제대로된 시체답게 행동해, with Park Sang-joon). – anthology with commentary of Czech science fiction in Korean.

Seoul: Happy Reading Books 2011.

Modern Art of Zimbabwe / 짐바브웨 현대미술전 - history of modern art of Zimbabwe, in English and Korean.

Seoul: Korea Foundation Cultural Center 2010.

 

History of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi (Dějiny Zimbabwe, Zambie a Malawi, with Otakar Hulec) – concise history of three African countries, in Czech.

Prague: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny 2008.

Four Generations of Zimbabwean Stone Sculptors (Čtyři generace zimbabwských sochařů) – history of Zimbabwean sculpture, in Czech.

Prague: Botanická zahrada 2007.

Rainmaker(Přivolávač deště, with Mbongeni Malaba) - anthology of modern Zimbabwean fiction, in Czech.

Prague: DharmaGaia - Kontinenty 2003.

Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Literature(Encyklopedie literatury science fiction, with Ondřej Neff) - in Czech.

Prague: H+H – AFSF 1995.

Worlds of Science Fiction(Světy science fiction) - anthology of science fiction from more than 25 countries, in Czech.

Prague: AFSF 1993.

Janusz A. Zajdel: Limes Inferior - translation of political science fiction novel from Polish into Czech.

Prague: Odeon 1989.