Tomasz Okruszko was born on 18 March 1961 in Warsaw.

He received his degree of Doctor of Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology in 1992 and in 2005 his postdoctoral degree in Agricultural Sciences. In 2016, he was awarded the title of professor in Technical Sciences.

He gained scientific experience in foreign centres as a visiting researcher in 1991–1992 at the Free University Brussels, Belgium, and during 28 trips to research centres in Europe, USA, South America, Africa and Australia.

Prof. Tomasz Okruszko’s scientific interests are focused on hydrology and water management. Hydrological issues mainly concern the role of water factor in the protection or restoration of wetlands. In water management, he investigates the possibility of using hydrological models in water-economy planning.

He has authored or co-authored over 150 scientific papers, including 57 indexed in the Web of Science databases. He was a member of an international team that, based on research conducted over 8 years in Europe and Asia, explained in an article in Nature (2013) the causes of declining species richness due to changes in the trophic status of ecosystems, pointing to the role of plant adaptation to phosphorus deficiency. Together with soil scientists and phytosociologists, he developed a coherent and practitioner-recognised methodology for dealing with degraded wetlands. The restoration method they proposed is implemented over large areas in three Polish national parks (Biebrza, Kampinos and Warta River-Mouth National Parks).

He was a supervisor of seven doctoral dissertations, including two in foreign centres and three honoured. He is a member of the international doctoral committee in six completed and two open doctoral procedures (the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Austria and Lithuania). He was also a supervisor of an honorary doctorate procedure at SGGW. Since 2006, he has been a visiting professor at the Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Belgium.

He is the President of the Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, a global NGO implementing integrated water resources management, and a member of the editorial boards of Hydrological Sciences Journal and Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology. He chairs the Polish Academy of Sciences Water Management Committee. He is a member of the Advisory Group to the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences on the climate crisis. He sat in the Scientific Councils of four Polish national parks (Biebrza, Narew, Słowiński and Kampinos National Parks). In the Biebrza National Park, he was the Chair of the Council (two terms). He was or is a member of scientific councils of the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Geophysics and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, National Research Institute.

He is actively involved in projects, three EU framework projects as a Polish team leader, in eight National Science Centre (the State Committee for Scientific Research) grants as a manager or main contractor and in three Norwegian Financial Mechanism projects as a coordinator or team leader. Currently, as a team leader or manager, he implements LIFE, INTERREG, BONUS and OPUS projects.

He was repeatedly recognised for his research activity, including the Second-Degree Award of the Minister of Science for his postdoctoral dissertation, Hydrological Criteria in Wetland Protection. He received thirteen SGGW Rector Awards for research and organisational activity. He delivered speeches at 28 international conferences or seminars, eight of which as invited lecture or keynote.

Languages: English, German and Russian.

Married to Anna Okruszko, doctor of microsurgery, parent of four children.