Ottar Gudnason is an Icelandic cinematographer born and raised in Reykjavik, Iceland. A school dropout, he began working behind the camera at 18 and has since built a career spanning more than 35 years across narrative film, television, studio features, and commercial production.

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Gudnason won the Edda Award for Best Cinematography for Driving Mum, further cementing his longstanding presence in Icelandic cinema. He also won the Edda Award for Best Cinematography for A Little Trip to Heaven. He is a two-time Edda Award nominee for Best Cinematography for his work on Baltasar Kormákur’s The Oath and Inhale. He shot the first season of the crime thriller series Reykjavík Fusion. His additional narrative credits include the Iceland unit of Greenland for director Ric Roman Waugh and HBO Max, Hitman: Agent 47 for Aleksander Bach and 20th Century Fox, and The Numbers Station directed by Kasper Barfoed.

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In addition to his work as a cinematographer, Gudnason has extensive experience as a camera operator on major studio productions, including Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty directed by Ben Stiller for 20th Century Fox, and Flags of Our Fathers directed by Clint Eastwood for DreamWorks.

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In the commercial space, he has shot thousands of campaigns for international brands including Samsung, Coca-Cola, Porsche, and Sony PlayStation. Fluent in both Icelandic and English, Gudnason continues to work internationally across film, television, and advertising.