Prof. Dr. Olaf Michel, born 1956, studied pharmacy and medicine in Paris and Berlin before he started his career at the Free University of Berlin in otorhinolaryngology. He changed to the University of Cologne where he got his PhD in 1992. His clinical and scientific interest was from the beginning the treatment of the paranasal sinus diseases. He is founder and organizer as well as faculty member of the International Sinus Course between Brussels and Cologne/Germany  from the start on for more than 25 years and regularly invited in international courses in Europe and the far east. There he is faculty member of the famous Rhinological Update Course for Thailand/East Asia. He developed as first surgeon the transnasal endoscopic controlled decompression in diseases of the orbit with simultaneous eye-muscle recession for diplopia, endonasal treatment of fractures, ESS in children with cystic fibrosis, diagnostic of CSF-leaks with beta-trace-protein.  In addition, he conducted several clinical studies to treat chronic paranasal sinuses. In basic research about nasal sinus mucosa he worked with his group about cellular regulating  mechanisms of the blood flow within the nasal mucosa under influence of mediators like nitric oxide in an animal model and human mucosa with immun-histochemistry, detection of the distribution and physiological role in different kinds of isoforms of NOS, measurements of NO in the breezing air under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. He is ranked under the top 10 researchers in German ORL. He published  several books, book chapters  and more than 300 articles in national and international journals.

Today he is Vice-Chairman of the department of rhinology, head and neck of the University Hospital of Vrije Universiteit Brussel, an international known expert, teacher and speaker.