Olesya Vartanyan is a conflict analyst with over 15 years of experience in research and advocacy on key developments in the South Caucasus. Her publications regularly appear in leading outlets of think tanks and research centers, and she contributes to policy debates on issues related to her home region.

Previously, she worked with international organizations such as the International Crisis Group, Freedom House, and the OSCE. Her field research and reporting from conflict zones — including Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh — have informed policy debates and peace process discussions among governments and international actors. In recognition of her work, she received the International Young Women’s Peace Award in 2024.

Before moving into conflict analysis, Olesya worked as an investigative journalist covering security issues in the South Caucasus. She contributed reporting to The New York Times, including during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, where her fieldwork supported investigations into the conflict’s origins. She also cooperated with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, specializing in on-the-ground reporting from conflict zones and producing a radio documentary on missing persons from the Georgia-Abkhazia war that received the European Union’s prize for peace journalism.

She is currently a PhD student at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.