Tone Marie Olstad is a senior paintings conservator and researcher. She has been employed in NIKU since 1994. Her main work areas are climate and ecclesiastical art, condition assessments, architectural paint research and international collaboration. Between 1994 and 2010 she was, together with representatives from NTNU and the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, responsible for The International Course on Wood Conservation Technology. She was a member of the steering committee of the Cost Action Wood science for Conservation of Cultural Heritage between 2007 and 2011 (COST-action IE0601), and is at present taking part in work within CEN TC 346, which is developing European standards within the conservation of cultural heritage.

Olstad workeded as a paintings conservator at the Directorate for Cultural Heritage (1985-1994). She has worked as chief executive officer at the ABM-utvikling /NMU (a governmental centre for archives, libraries and museums) now a part of Arts Council, Norway (1999) and held the position as head of conservation section at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo (2004-2006).

Olstad holds a craft certificate as cabinet maker, and studied art history at the University of Oslo before taking her diploma as paintings conservator in 1985.