Atli Örvarsson

From historical epics to courtroom drama to tales of the supernatural, Icelandic composer Atli Örvarsson has provided innovative scores to tell all of these stories. Atli’s talent, experience, versatility, and skill combined with his Icelandic roots has produced an individualized and compelling style that contributes to his success as a musician and composer. Atli’s credits include orchestrating and writing music for some of Hollywood’s biggest projects, including the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has contributed music to films from Angels and Demons to The Holiday. As a composer, Atli Örvarsson displays musical diversity throughout his action-film scores in The Eagle, Vantage Point, Babylon A.D., the Morgan Freeman caper Thick as Thieves, The Fourth Kind, the Nicolas Cage medieval fantasy Season of the Witch, the fantasy adaptation The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, the dark and edgy film Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, the drama/thriller A Single Shot starring Sam Rockwell and working with Hans Zimmer to contribute music to the Zack Snyder’s Superman installment Man of Steel. Atli’s most recent credits include The Hitman’s Bodyguard starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds, the coming-of-age film The Edge of Seventeen, the Icelandic drama about two stubborn brothers Rams as well as the hit NBC series Chicago Fire and Chicago PD.

Originally from the small town of Akureyri, Atli Örvarsson became established in the local music scene at a young age. He earned three platinum and two gold records as a member of the Icelandic band Salin hans Jons mins before studying film composing at Berklee College of Music and the North Carolina School of the Arts. He excelled in composing and was awarded the Pete Carpenter Fellowship, which brought him to Los Angeles. He began working alongside TV veteran Mike Post on NYPD Blue and three Law and Order brands. Soon after that, Atli met composer Hans Zimmer, who extended an invitation to join his team at Remote Control Studios. Atli’s accolades include winning the HARPA Nordic Film Composer Award for his acclaimed score to Rams, several ASCAP & BMI Film & TV Music Awards, a “Breakthrough of the Year” nomination with the IFMCA Awards in 2009, plus he was nominated for the prestigious World Soundtrack Academy’s “Discovery of the Year Award” for his score for Babylon A.D in 2009 and his score for Ploey: You Never Fly Alone was nominated for a “Public Choice Award” in 2018.