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Andy Oppenheimer

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Andy Oppenheimer
AIExpE MIABTI
Born1953 (age 70–71)
NationalityBritish-Irish
Alma materLiverpool University

Andy Oppenheimer AIExpE MIABTI (born 1953) is a UK-based expert and consultant in counter-terrorism and CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear weapons and explosives). From 2001 to 2021 he wrote hundreds of articles, edited journals, and published five books. He has presented at conferences and professional seminars worldwide.

He has been editor of several journals on defence and security, including Chemical, Biological & Nuclear Warfare (CBNW) from 2009, Jane's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence and NBC International from 2006 to 2008, and was co-editor of Jane's World Armies from 2002 to 2004. He has served as a CBRN consultant for Jane's Consultancy Group and Oxford Analytica.

Personal life

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Born in 1953, Oppenheimer grew up in Leeds and Liverpool and graduated from Liverpool University in 1974. He then moved to London and worked in popular science and academic publishing for over 20 years before becoming an author and subject matter expert in defence and counterterrorism in 2001. He has been a singer/songwriter of electro pop music from 1982. He is not related to J. Robert Oppenheimer, but has been greatly influenced and inspired by his work and life. He became an Irish citizen in 2020.

Professional career

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During the 1980s and 1990s, Oppenheimer conducted research into nuclear weapons and the Cold War along with research into the Irish Republican Army and improvised explosive devices. He became a Member of the International Association of Bomb Technicians (IABTI) in 2008 and an Associate Member of the UK Institute of Explosives Engineers in 2011.

From 2012 to 2015 he was a Course Contributor to the University of St. Andrews Certificate of Terrorism Studies, conducted by the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, writing the CBRN Weapons in Terrorism Course Module in 2012 and the IEDs: Threats & Countermeasures Course Module in 2013. He has written for defence journals including Military Technology, CBNW, RUSI Journal,[1] Strategic Intelligence Review, Counter-IED Report, Langley Intelligence Group Network, Police Oracle, Explosives Engineering, and several Jane's Information Group (now Jane's IHS) publications from 2002 to 2006, including Jane's Terrorism & Security Monitor and Jane's Intelligence Digest.[2] He was Editor of Jane's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence from 2006 to 2008.

Oppenheimer has made TV appearances and radio broadcasts as an expert on terrorism and CBRNE and acts as a consultant for films and documentaries, including Mountbatten: Death of a Royal (History Channel, RTE), Gaddafi and the IRA (ITV), The World's Deadliest Arms Race (ITV), Terror Attacks That Shocked Britain (Current TV, Sky), and Spooks (BBC1).

Andy Oppenheimer lecturing at a United States Army Medical Materiel Agency (USAMMA) seminar at Fort Detrick, MA in 2009.

Published work

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His first book IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets – A History of Deadly Ingenuity (Irish Academic Press, 2008)[3] covers 150 years of strategic, tactical, and operational details, with penetrating analysis of the IRA's mission, doctrine, targeting, and acquisition of weapons and explosives.

He has since published two science-fiction novels on Amazon – Fields of Orion (I): An Odyssey (2019) and Fields of Orion (II) The Mission (2020) - with the strong themes of bomb disposal, heroism, terrorism, and first contact.

In 2021 he published Stars of Orion: An Astronomy Special: a collection of photos and stories of the Constellation Orion by 45 amateur and professional astronomers. Hosting the book as Orion the Hunter, he draws on experience working for Omni (magazine) from 1978 to 1983 with Patrick Moore and from a love of cosmology and Greek mythology.

Continuing the Orion theme, his latest novel is Orion: The Hunter's Story (due out mid-2024) – a sci-fi first contact thriller set in Ancient Greece and 1990s USA.

Music

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Andy Oppenheimer is also a singer-songwriter of electronic pop music[4] since the early 1980s, when he formed Oppenheimer Analysis (OA) with producer Martin Lloyd (aka Analysis, d. 2013). They released the tape-only album New Mexico in 1982, which grew to have a following with the emerging cassette culture. OA later became regarded among aficionados as a pioneering combo which continues to influence a new generation of electronic artists.

In 2005 OA re-formed and an EP of early material, Oppenheimer Analysis, was the first release by the New York-based Minimal Wave label, with a release of the 1982 New Mexico album. 'The Devil's Dancers' is a hallmark electro track played in clubs and online DJ playlists.[5][6] The Oppenheimer Analysis EP entered its fifth re-pressing in 2023. From 2006 to 2013, when Martin Lloyd sadly died, OA played live in Germany, Belgium, and London.

Oppenheimer also wrote and sang from 2010 to 2015 as Touching the Void with veteran producer Mark Warner (of Rossetti's Compass and formerly of the 1980s band Sudeten Creche) and released an album, Love, Longing and Loss in 2015. He continues to create songs as Oppenheimer MkII with producer Mahk Rumbae (of experimental electronic band Mitra Mitra). Oppenheimer MkII released their first album The Presence of the Abnormal in 2012, which was re-released on vinyl in 2023 on German label Minimalkombinat, and an EP, Out in the Field, on Northern Irish record label TONN Recordings in 2021. He has played live as Oppenheimer MkII at music festivals in Germany and Poland and continues to perform at clubs in Vienna and London. In 2023, also released by TONN Recordings, Oppenheimer produced an album continuing the Orion theme, Songs From A Constellation, in collaboration with Northern Irish electro musician and producer Crystalline Stricture.

Andy Oppenheimer singing live in London in 2008. © Nik Panic

Oppenheimer has also painted pictures from childhood and his surrealist works were featured in several exhibitions in London in the late 1990s. His main pastime is archery, shooting at clubs in London and Brighton.

Books

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  • 2008: IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets
  • 2019: Fields of Orion: An Odyssey
  • 2020: Fields of Orion (II) The Mission
  • 2021: The Hunter’s Story by Orion
  • 2021: Stars of Orion: An Astronomy Special
  • 2024: to come Orion: The Hunter's Story

Discography

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A full list of Andy Oppenheimer's music releases can be viewed on Discogs (see external links)

Albums

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  • 1982: New Mexico as Oppenheimer Analysis
  • 2013: The Presence of the Abnormal as Oppenheimer MkII
  • 2015: Love, Longing and Loss as Touching the Void
  • 2023: Songs From a Constellation with Crystalline Stricture

EPs

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  • 2005: Der Wissenschaftler as Oppenheimer Analysis
  • 2005: Oppenheimer Analysis as Oppenheimer Analysis
  • 2015: Line of Sight EP as Oppenheimer MkII
  • 2021: Out in the Field as Oppenheimer MkII


Singles

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  • 2010: Oppenheimer Analysis as Oppenheimer Analysis
  • 2011: Science / Washington as Oppenheimer Analysis
  • 2012: Parallel Lives as Touching the Void
  • 2014: Obsession / In this Together as Touching the Void

References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Latest Publications From Andy Oppenheimer". Andy Oppenheimer. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  3. ^ "IRA The Bombs and the Bullets: A History of Deadly Ingenuity | Irish Academic Press". Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Minimal Wave Records | Oppenheimer Analysis Interview (with Andy Oppenheimer) | Interviews". minimalwave.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  5. ^ Pelly, Jenn (2 May 2013). "R.I.P. Martin Lloyd of 1980s Synth Pioneers Oppenheimer Analysis". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Martin Lloyd - Tribute Page". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
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