About
I'm Oliver — a product engineer based in Heidelberg, Germany. I build full-stack mobile platforms for startups and scale-ups, working as a solo engineer or embedded in small teams.
I studied Jewish Studies and American Literature at Universität Potsdam — about as far from computer science as you can get. I taught myself to code, landed my first engineering role in 2014, and haven't looked back. Twelve years later, I've shipped software for startups, scale-ups, and enterprise clients across Berlin, Stuttgart, and Heidelberg.
Along the way, I've hired and mentored engineers, led technical direction on product teams, and worked across stacks from React and React Native to Python/FastAPI and infrastructure. In 2025, I went independent. My first freelance project was a multi-market news aggregation platform I built end-to-end over 9 months — mobile app, BFF, shared component library, CI/CD, the lot.
How I work
Pragmatic, not dogmatic
I pick the right tool for the problem, not the trendiest one. I start simple, ship early, and add complexity only when the problem demands it. Premature abstraction costs more than duplication.
Incremental delivery
Every commit should be deployable. I use feature flags, backward compatibility, and hybrid rendering to ship value continuously without big-bang releases. Progress is visible and rollback is always an option.
Self-directed & transparent
I don't need to be managed. Give me a problem and I'll break it down, flag blockers early, document decisions, and keep you updated. Async-friendly — I work well across time zones with written communication.
What I bring
I'm not just a React Native developer — I think across the full stack. Mobile app, API layer, build pipeline, state management, testing strategy. When you hire me, you get one person who owns the entire technical surface area of your product.
That means fewer coordination costs, faster iteration, and decisions made by someone who understands how every layer connects. I care about the product as much as the code.
Let's build something
I'm available for new projects. If you're a startup or scale-up looking for a product engineer, let's talk.