In 2011, O'Rourke joined the University of Oxford as Chichele Professor of Economic History. With this appointment, he was also elected a University Academic Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. In January 2014, he additionally became research director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), a European charity. In 2019, he left Oxford and moved to the United Arab Emirates where he joined New York University Abu Dhabi as Professor of Economics.
