Dr. Olena Uvarova is a UNDP Global Business and Human Rights Specialist. She has over 20 years of experience working with companies, governments and international organisations.

Dr. Uvarova supports businesses in integrating human rights and sustainability into their operations, including through conflict-sensitive human rights impact assessments for investment funds in Ukraine.

Olena is Associate Professor at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Ukraine). Since 2018, she also leads the International Lab on BHR at the same university. Olena is a Co-founder of the Regional BHR Association in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and, since 2023, she is the co-President of the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association.

Since 2017, she has been providing pro bono expert support to the OECD National Contact Point in Ukraine, co-organising joint awareness-raising events on responsible business conduct.

In 2022-2025, she served as Research Coordinator at Law Group, Wageningen University & Research (the Netherlands).

She holds a PhD in Law from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, complemented by research fellowships and teaching qualifications from institutions including the University of Utah (Fulbright Scholar), the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and Wageningen University.