Composer-pianist Ola Gjeilo has a meditative, cinematic style on albums he releases under his own name. He also composes choral music, and in his recordings of these works, he often contributes piano improvisations over his compositions.

Gjeilo (YAY-lo) was born in 1978. His parents were Inge and Anne-May Gjeilo, and the household was musically eclectic, with classical, jazz, pop, and folk sounds in the environment. At five, Ola took up the piano, and by seven, he could read music. He took composition lessons from Wolfgang Plagge even before entering the Norwegian Academy of Music in 1999. Gjeilo transferred to the Juilliard School in 2001 and then to the Royal College of Music in London, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 2004. Gjeilo returned to Juilliard, where he received a master's degree in 2006. In 2003, his music was featured on the electronic compilation album Zen, and in 2007, he made his solo debut on the 2L label with the album Stone Rose, mostly featuring his solo piano along with some chamber works. In 2009 and 2010, Gjeilo served as composer-in-residence for the Phoenix Chorale.

Gjeilo's music is mostly in the solo piano and choral genres, with some for wind symphony. His works in each of these genres are issued by different publishers, Walton Music for choral works, Boosey & Hawkes for wind band, and Chester Music for keyboard works. One of his early choral works, Phoenix (2008), has been recorded several times, and by the early 2020s, more than 125 of his compositions had been recorded by himself and others; many choirs unconnected with Gjeilo have recorded his choral works, but Gjeilo is perhaps best known for the solo recordings he has released under his own name; since 2016, these have appeared on the Decca label. The first was Ola Gjeilo: Voices, Piano, Strings, while Winter Songs (2017) featured the Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London; Night (2020) and Dawn (2022) were solo piano recordings. Gjeilo is based in New York, where he makes a living as a freelance composer. ~ James Manheim, Rovi