Sirje Olesk (née Mägar; born 24 August 1954) is an Estonian literary scholar and critic. She held several research management roles at the Estonian Literary Museum from 1980 to 1997, later serving as a senior researcher at the institution.
Olesk was born in Kohtla-Järve and raised in Jõhvi. She studied Estonian language and literature at the University of Tartu (then Tartu State University), graduating cum laude in 1977. In 1989, she defended her Candidate of Philological Sciences thesis, titled Luuleteoreetilise mõtte areng Eestis 1878âÂÂ1917 (The Development of Theoretical Thought on Poetry in Estonia 1878âÂÂ1917).
After graduating, Olesk worked as a teacher in Tallinn until 1980. She then joined the Estonian Literary Museum in Tartu, where she served as research secretary (1980âÂÂ1987), head of the research department (1988âÂÂ1990), and research director (1990âÂÂ1997). She continued as a senior researcher from 1998 until her retirement, subsequently becoming a senior researcher emeritus.
Olesk has also taught at the universities of Tartu and Helsinki. She served as a lecturer in Estonian culture and literature at the University of Helsinki for two terms (2008âÂÂ2010 and 2015âÂÂ2019).
Olesk's scholarship focuses on Estonian poetry and poetic theory, the "Finnish Bridge" (Soome sild) of cultural relations between Estonia and Finland, and the institutional history of literature in the Estonian SSR. She is a recognized authority on the Finnish-Estonian writer Aino Kallas and the poet Lydia Koidula.
She has compiled and edited several significant volumes of correspondence and historical documents, including the letters of prominent Estonian intellectuals in exile such as Ants Oras and Ivar Ivask.
In 2022, she published the monograph Aegade lugu: kirjanike liit Eesti NSVs (The Story of Times: The Writers' Union in the Estonian SSR). The book, which explores the relationship between the Soviet state and the literary community, received the Cultural Endowment of Estonia's annual award for essay and non-fiction in 2023.
Olesk was married to the literary scholar and politician Peeter Olesk (1953âÂÂ2021).