Ola Mikal Heide is a Norwegian botanist.

He was born in Trondenes

Trondenes

Trondenes is a parish and a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. It is located along the Vågsfjorden in the present-day municipality of Harstad. Trondenes includes the majority of the island of Grytøya and part of the island of Hinnøya as well as some smaller islands...

. He graduated from the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1961, and took the dr.agric. degree in 1967 with the thesis Studies on the Control of Regeneration in Begonia. He was appointed professor of plant physiology

Plant physiology

Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Closely related fields include plant morphology , plant ecology , phytochemistry , cell biology, and molecular biology.Fundamental processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition,...

 at the University of Tromsø

University of Tromsø

The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...

 in 1972, professor of botany at the Norwegian College of Agriculture in 1976. He served as rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

there from 1978 to 1983.