Matúš Oľha

Matúš Oľha (born 8 September 1959) is a Slovak theatre and television director, university professor, photographer and former academic administrator. He served as rector of the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica from 2008 to 2016 and was chairman of the Board of the Arts Support Fund (Fond na podporu umenia, FPU) from March 2025 until his resignation on 23 July 2026.

Early life and education Matúš Oľha was born in Prešov, as the son of the writer Štefan Oľha. He has three sisters, including the puppeteer Zuzana Oľhová (married Erbyová).

He attended secondary school (gymnázium) in Košice from 1974 to 1978. Between 1978 and 1984 he studied theatre directing at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU) under Tibor Rakovský and Juraj Svoboda. From 2004 to 2010 he completed doctoral studies in the Theory and History of Theatre at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov, receiving a PhD.

During his studies he directed at the amateur Malé divadelné štúdio in Košice. His production of Karel Čapek's The White Disease (1982) won the nationwide amateur theatre festival Scénická žatva in Martin.

Career Theatre directing Oľha began his professional career as an in-house director at the Jozef Gregor Tajovský Theatre in Zvolen (1984–1988). From 1988 to 2005 he was a resident director at the Slovak National Uprising Theatre in Martin (now the Slovak Chamber Theatre). He has also worked as a guest director at numerous Slovak theatres (including the Alexander Duchnovič Theatre and Jonáš Záborský Theatre in Prešov, the Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra, and the City Theatre in Žilina) as well as at the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc, Czech Republic. He has collaborated with amateur ensembles, notably the Ján Chalupka Theatre Company in Brezno.

On 16 July 2026 employees of the Fund reported the discovery of listening devices in several offices. The matter was referred to the authorities. After a Board meeting on 22 July 2026 Oľha declined to answer any questions and ran away from the journalists. Video footage of the incident circulated widely and became a popular internet meme. On 23 July 2026 he announced his resignation as chairman, citing prolonged "media lynching," while stating that he would remain an ordinary member of the Board.

Personal life Oľha was married for 22 years to the actress Jana Oľhová; the marriage ended in 2005. They have six children: son Adam (born 1984) and daughters Mária (born 1988), Juliána (born 1991), Tereza, Eva and Hana. His second wife is Natália Oľhová, with whom he has a daughter, Tamara.

Selected publications Spovede divadelníkov (2016) Divadlo a divadelníci (2018)