Orla joined UCD College of Business as Assistant Professor in Entrepreneurship in 2015. Prior to this, she was Prize Fellow of Entrepreneurship at the University of Bath, UK and obtained her PhD from the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Orla uses qualitative research methods to explore the people, processes and practices of entrepreneurship - both during the early stages of new venture creation and the latter stages of business exit, failure and recovery. Orla's work has been published in top tier entrepreneurship and management journals including Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice and Organization Studies. She was a founding member of the international research group Entrepreneurship as Practice and has been actively involved in growing and supporting the community since. She is a firm believer in second chance entrepreneurship, and an advocate for greater support for entrepreneurs during the business failure - recovery process.

Orla teaches entrepreneurship modules on the MBA and MSc programmes at Smurfit School of Business, and on the undergraduate BComm and associated programmes at Quinn School of Business. She has previously taught entrepreneurship on graduate and undergraduate programs at University of Strathclyde Business School, University of Bath School of Management, and at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dublin.

Orla was awarded a UCD College of Business Teaching Award in 2020 and was a recipient of the Dean’s List of Outstanding Teachers in 2019.

Publications