Atli Örvarsson is an acclaimed Icelandic musician, conductor, and composer for film and television. His expansive body of work spans over 40 major studio film productions, countless television shows, collaborations with a range of artists, orchestral conducting, and ambitious solo work.
Atli’s most recent work includes Apple TV’s crime drama miniseries Defending Jacob starring Chris Evans and the upcoming science-fiction series Wool from director Morten Tyldum starring Rebecca Ferguson and David Oyelowo, also for Apple TV.
Other notable credits include Netflix’s hit comedy feature Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, as well as the Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson action comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard and its sequel The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard starring Salma Hayek. Atli’s extensive work in television is highlighted by the acclaimed procedurals NBC’s long-running Chicago franchise: Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice; and CBS’s FBI and its spin-offs, FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted.
Over the past number of years, Atli has become one of Iceland’s foremost composers. In addition to several ASCAP and BMI Awards for his incredible breadth of work in television, he received the HARPA Nordic Film Composer Award for his acclaimed score to Icelandic drama feature Rams. In 2009, he was nominated as the Breakthrough of the Year at the IFMCA Awards and Discovery of the Year by the World Soundtrack Academy, and in 2019 his score for the Icelandic animated feature Ploey was nominated for a World Soundtrack Awards’ “Public Choice Award”.
Additionally, Atli has worked with the Sinfonia Nord orchestra to put Akureyri, Iceland on the map as an international destination for recording film scores. He founded the thriving INNI label to help bring talented Icelandic artists to a wider audience and continued his creative evolution with the release of his expansive 2020 solo debut, You Are Here which reviewers called evocative and a serene, beatific experience.