Roeland Paardekooper has been working in the field of archaeological reconstructions and open-air museums since 1981. He studied prehistoric archaeology of Europe at Leiden University (the Netherlands) and did his PhD in archaeological open-air museums at the University of Exeter (UK). 

Paardekooper is one of the founders (2001) of EXARC, of which he has been director until 2023. Following his work for the Eindhoven Museum (the Netherlands), he was director of the Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen (Germany) and director of the Middelaldercentret (Denmark).