Damilola Sunday Olawuyi

An indigene of Igbajo Town in Boluwaduro Local Government Area of Osun State of Nigeria,[13] Professor Olawuyi was born in Ibadan. He had his early education at INRI Nursery and Primary School, Ibadan and completed his secondary school education at Igbinedion Secondary School, Benin City, where he sat for and excelled in his West African School Certificate Examination in 2000. While in secondary school, he was popularly known as the "Authority" because of his passionate interest in national, legal and political affairs. He was an avid reader of all of the most popular newspapers in Nigeria at that time.

At the age of twenty one, he graduated from Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria with a first-class degree in law, with all of the available prizes, and was named overall best graduating student and University Valedictorian (2005). The following year, he graduated with the highest first-class honours awarded that year by the Nigerian Law School (2006) thereby becoming the very first private university graduate in Nigerian history to bag a first class at the highly competitive Nigeria Law School.[14] In the next year, he was awarded a Government of Alberta Scholarship enabling him to study at the University of Calgary, Canada, where he obtained the degree of Master of Laws in natural resources, energy and environmental law (2008).[15] After receiving a Diploma in International Environmental Law from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, Switzerland, he received a Graduate Scholarship from Harvard University, where he obtained the degree of Master of Laws in international law and sustainable development (2009). In the next year, he was awarded four prestigious scholarships (Clarendon Scholarship Award, Overseas Research Scholarship, Government of Canada's Social Science and Humanities Research Scholarship, and the A G Leventis Scholarship) which enabled him to complete a Doctor of Philosophy in Law degree at Keble College, University of Oxford (2013).[16]

Olawuyi published The Human Rights Based Approach to Carbon Finance in 2016.[17] The book, which is an expanded version of his doctoral thesis, received the International Law Association (Nigeria) Book Prize in 2016.

Olawuyi is a licensed member of the bars of Nigeria, Alberta, Canada and Ontario, Canada. He has practiced and taught law in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He was formerly an energy lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP where he served on the firm's global committee on extractive investments in Africa.[18] He later became the Deputy Director, Environmental Law at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Canada.[19]

Professor Olawuyi's research interest focuses on sustainable development, with expertise in petroleum, natural resources, energy, environment, and agricultural law.[20] Since he became a Full Professor, he has supervised several undergraduate and postgraduate students. He had published several scholarly articles in reputable academic journal as well as conference abstracts and monograph.[21] Olawuyi has published close to a hundred articles, book chapters and books on petroleum law, energy and international environmental law. His most recent book publications include The Human Rights-Based Approach to Carbon Finance (Cambridge University Press, 2016)[22] and Extractives Industry Law in Africa (Springer, 2018).[23]

Olawuyi has received numerous awards and fellowships. He is a member of several national and international professional bodies including the Academic Advisory Group of the International Bar Association.[24]

In 2018, Olawuyi was appointed as an expert member of the Federal Technical Committee on National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Bill, Committee on Environment and Habitat, Federal House of Representatives, Government of Nigeria, Abuja.[25] Professor Olawuyi is a regular media commentator on all aspects of natural resources, energy, and environmental law.[26]