Oswald Van Olmen studied flute at the Royal Conservatoire of Ghent with A. van Boterdael, at the Musikhochschule of Freiburg i.B. with Gustav Scheck and at the Conservatoire of Prague with Petr Brock. At the same time he studied singing ( Belcanto ) with Lida Michelova. He thaught the recorder at the Royal Conservatoires of Ghent, Leuven and The Hague (NL). As performing artist ( flute, recorder an classical German flute ), he interpreted music of the avant - garde ( I.P.E.M., Ghent ) as well as baroque and classical music in their historic interpretation. He was a member of the Parnassusensemble ( with Barthold Kuyken, Paul Dombrecht, Johan Huys, Richte Van der Meer ) and of Musica Antiqua ( under the direction of Ton Koopman ) and collaborated regularly as a free-lance musician - together with Barthold Kuyken - in concerts and recordings of Collegium Aureum ( Harmonia Mundi ), La Petite Bande ( Sigiswald Kuyken, Gustav Leonhardt ), Frans Brüggen, etc… He was very impressed by the technical perfection and de musical possibilities of the original instruments of the musea of Paris, Brussels, The Hague, etc. and started a profound investigation into the technical features that are determinative of the sound of the recorder. At the end of '78, he retires in Spain to dedicate himself completely to this investigation. Fascinated by the musical-acoustic possibilities of the recorder, he started to experiment with sound and to develop his own prototypes. In 1987 - invited by Johan Huys, Prinicpal of the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Ghent - he gives a solo concert, exclusively dedicated to "Der Fluyten Lusthof" by J.J. van Eyck and broadcasted by BRT 3 (Belgian radio, cultural section) - production Pieter Andriessen. In july '94 he realizes the musical animation of the Cairn of Barnenez, a megalitic monument in Bretagne (Morlaix). On this occasion he plays in open air ancient music ("Der Fluyten Lusthof", J.J. van Eyck) as well as improvisations for one-, two- and three voices, as a result of superposing (combining ? ) lifeplaying with recordings made on the spot. The investigation into the acoustic possibilities of the recorder (technique of recordermaking and playing-technique) leads to the creation of the "Hall-recorder", a recorder with an energetic sound. At the Exhibition of Musical Instruments in Bruges in 1999, he presents the " Hall - recorder ", a new recorder concept : sound with energy. Oswald Van Olmen likes improvising on the "Hall-recorder" in selected places. While integrating the local situation (environment, people, movement…), he creates a "tableau sonore", a soundpicture.