Óskar Árni Óskarsson was born in Reykjavík in 1950. 

Óskar Árni has long been engaged in writing poetry and translations. He published his first poetry collection, Handklæði í gluggakistunni (A Towel on the Windowsill), in 1986. Alongside his writing, he has worked as a librarian at the National and University Library of Iceland.

Óskar Árni has published a number of poetry and/or short-prose collections, as well as translating poetry by a number of foreign poets. He has published three books of translations of the Japanese Haiku and has also tackled the form in his own poetry writing. He has also translated books by Raymond Carver, William Saroyan and Carson McCullers. Óskar Árni edited and published the poetry magazine Ský (Clouds), which was issued in the years 1990-1994. He is a co-editor of Þrjár hendur (Three Hands), a series of short fiction and poetry pamphlets published since 2019. 

Óskar has received the Jón úr Vör Poetry Award and a recognition award from the Writers’ Fund of the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RÚV), and he has also been nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize. Poetry by Óskar Árni has appeared in numerous magazines and collections in Iceland and abroad.