Dougald O’Reilly was awarded an M.A. and PhD in Archaeology by the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. His research delved into the development of political complexity in Bronze and Iron Age Thailand. His academic journey took him to Cambodia in 1999, where he served as a UNESCO lecturer at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. From 2006 -2008, he lectured the University of Sydney, Australia, and was a visiting lecturer at Yale University in 2008-09. Currently, he is a member of the Australian National University's School of Archaeology and Anthropology.  

In response to the looting of archaeological sites in Cambodia, a non-governmental organization called Heritage Watch (www.heritagewatchinternational.org) was founded by O'Reilly in 2003 in an effort to combat the loss of heritage in Cambodia.  Heritage Watch established a nationwide education campaign highlighting the importance of heritage and continues to work in heritage preservation, currently running a programme called Heritage for Kids. 

O'Reilly has worked extensively in the archaeology of Southeast Asia. His research in the recent past has been focused on Cambodia, where he oversaw several multi-disciplinary projects examining ancient mobility, health, and social organization of Iron Age settlements. He has also led research examining the rise of the state in the region with excavations undertaken in both Cambodia and Thailand, the core and periphery of empire.

In 2015, O'Reilly was awarded the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences Award for Programs that Enhance Learning and the Vice Chancellor's Award for Public Policy and Outreach. He was nominated in 2016 for a Vice Chancellor's Award for Programs that Enhance Learning.

O’Reilly received an Award for Programs that Enhance Learning from the College of Arts and Social Sciences in 2017 and the ANU Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Education in 2018. His e-book ‘An Interactive Guide to Angkor’ won the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Gold Award for best Guide Book in 2018. A second edition of his book Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia, will be published in 2026. 

His current research focuses on the enigmatic sites of the 'Plain of the Jars' in Northern Laos and jar sites in Northeast India. This is a collaborative project with Lao and Indian archaeologists aimed at shedding more light on the origin and purpose of the megalithic jar sites.

B.A., P.G. Dip., M.A., Ph.D.

The prehistory of Southeast Asia, rise of complex society, Archaeological theory, Heritage preservation.