O’Kane is an Irish Islamic and Iranologist and a prominent professor of Islamic art and architecture who teaches at The American University in Cairo. He completed his undergraduate studies at Queen's University Belfast and received his doctorate from Edinburgh University. During his stay in Iran, he was the vice president of the British Institute of Persian Studies and researched Timurid architecture in Khorasan region. Teaching at the universities of California, Harvard and London; membership in the board of Muqarnas (journal) and the Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA); and holding numerous photo exhibitions are some of his other activities. In 1975, due to his extensive studies on Islamic civilizations and Oriental studies, he became the researcher of the year of the British Institute of Persian Studies. In 2018, he received the Farabi International Award for all his works in the field of Iranian studies and Islamic studies. Among his books in the field of Iranian and Arab architecture, we can mention the following: Treasures of Islam: Artistic Glories of the Muslim World; Timurid Architecture in Khurasan; Early Persian Painting: Kalila and Dimna Manuscripts of the Late-Fourteenth Century; Studies in Arab Architecture; Studies in Islamic Painting, Epigraphy and Decorative Arts; Mosques: the 100 Most Iconic Islamic Houses of Worship; The Mosques of Egypt; The Illustrated Guide to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo; and The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art.