Ordine was born in the city of Diamante in southern Italy. He is currently professor of Italian literature at the University of Calabria in Cosenza, Italy. Fellow of the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studiesand of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, he has taught at American (Yale, New York University) and Europeanuniversities (EHESS, Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, Paris-IV Sorbonne, Paris-III Sorbonne-Nouvelle, CESR of Tours, Institut Universitaire de France, Paris-VIII, Warburg Institute, Eichstätt University). He is one of the major contemporary experts on Giordano Bruno and the Renaissance. His books have been translated into many languages, among them Chinese, Japanese and Russian. He is general editor of a new edition of Bruno's work and, along with Yves Hersant and Alain Segonds, of three collections of classics atLes Belles Lettres. In Italy, he is general editor of the series “Sileni” at Liguori, “Classici del pensiero europeo” at Nino Aragno Editore and “Classici della letteratura europea” at Bompiani. He writes for "Corriere della Sera".

Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques ; 2009

Non Fiction

• The Threshold of Shadow (Orig. "La soglia dell'ombra") (2003), Published by Marsilio; (2004) Revised 2nd Edition; (2009) 3rd Edition; translations: French (Les Belles Lettres, 2003), Spanish (Siruela, 2008), Portuguese (Perspectiva, 2006), Romanian (Institutul Cultural Roman, 2005), Russian(Saint Petersburg University Press, 2008), Deutsch (Königshaus & Neumann 2009)
• Giordano Bruno and the Philosophy of the Ass (Orig.La cabala dell'asino) (1987), Published by Liguori, Italy; (2005) Revised 2nd Edition; translations: French (Les Belles Lettres, 1993, 2005); English (Yale University Press, 1996); German (Wilhelm Fink, 1999); Chinese (Oriental Press, 2005); Romanian (Humanitas, 2004); Japanese (Toshindo, 2002); Portuguese (Educs, 2008)
• Giordano Bruno, Ronsard and Religion (2007), Published by Cortina, Italy; (2009) Revised 2nd Edition; translations: French (Albin Michel, 2004)
• Theory of Short Stories and Theory of Laughter in the 16th Century (Orig.Teoria della novella e teoria del riso nel '500 (1996), Published by Liguori, Italy; (2009) Revised 2nd Edition; translations: French (Vrin/Nino Aragno, 2002)
• The Meeting of Knowledges (Orig. Le rendez-vouz des savoirs) (1999), Published by Kliencksieck, France; (2009) Les Belles Lettres, Paris.

• Rombiolo; 2007

• Filosofia Siracusa; 2007

• Anassilaos; 2006 for the Megale Hellas section

• Orient Express; 2003

• Cesare de Lollis; 2003

• Le Città della Magna Grecia; 1987