Dan O'Brien is Chief Economist of the Institute of International and European Affairs, one of Ireland’s leading think tanks. He is also Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin and a columnist and economics analyst for the Independent Newspaper group.

For three years from mid-2010 Dan was economics editor of the Irish Times, analysing and commenting on a wide range of Irish, European and global issues. Prior to that he spent a dozen years, based in London and Geneva, as senior economist and editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, an arm of The Economist Newspaper Group. Dan has also worked for the European Commission and as a consultant for the United Nations and Forfas, an Irish government in-house think tank.

During his career, in which he has lived and worked in seven European countries, Dan has commented frequently in the domestic and international media, for broadcasters such as CNN and the BBC and in print, for newspapers such as the International Herald Tribune and the Financial Times. His book "Ireland, Europe and the World: Writings on a New Century" was published in October 2009.