Einar Thor Gunnlaugsson, born in a remote village in northwest part of Iceland, graduated from The London Film School with a distinction in directing in 1992. He had studied mass media theory and Spanish at the University of Iceland and at the University of Malaga, Spain, from 1988 to 1990, and later continued his academic studies at City University in London were he completed his MA in 2001.
Prior to films he was a sailor and an Icelandic cowboy, later he took part in number of EU's and EC's conferences on cultural and social issues in Denmark, Germany, France and Spain, was a member of the Executive Committee of the Icelandic Youth Council in 1989, and actively involved in international exchange program's in Europe and C-America in 1988.
After film school he appeared as an actor in number of short films in London and took on the lead role in a United Nation's (UNHCR) music video, 'Hate & Destruction' in 1994. He has also produced and written over ten radio program's for the Icelandic National Radio, and from 1986 to this day, written dozens of articles for Icelandic newspapers and magazines on culture, politics and media. He is a Liverpool FC fan and freely admits it.