1. Is the verb ol- regular in its conjugation? Does it have a full paradigm?

2. ´to be´ is typically suffixed in Turkish. ol- is used only if there is a grammatical element that has to be hanged somewhere (olmalı). But ol- has other meanings, for instance ´to become´ in which it acts like an ordinary verb. Am I right?

1- I am not sure what you mean by "full paradigm" but as far as the conjugation of a verb is concerned, "olmak" is not different from any other verb.

2- "ol-mak" has many usages and different meanings. "to be" verb (old er-mek) is a verb that describes a state while "olmak" usually describes a state transition.

iyi-yim = I´m fine

iyi olurum = I will be fine, I become fine

iyi idim = I was fine

iyi oldum = I became fine

For many uses of "olmak", I have located some threads for you through the search box:

http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_8437
http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_2671

This one looks good to me:
http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_10018

Thanks for your reply, si++. I could have looked for the links myself (I saw an earlier message about babyfeeding...) but how come my fingers began to type before I thought properly.

I like information in a nutshell, like what you said about ol- denoting a state transition.

This is a rough information and may need to be corrected in some parts or added some more information..

ol -

1.indicating a change from one quality, place, etc to another:

Büyüdüğünde doktor olmak istiyor

He wants to be a doctor when he grows up

Beş dakika içinde  orada olabilirsin

You can be there in five minutes

On lira ver, kitap senin olsun

Give me ten liras, and the book is yours.

2.come or grow to be; begin to be:

Doktor oldu

He became a doctor

Meşhur birisi oldu

He has become a famous man

O adet şimdi kural oldu

That costum has now become a rule

3.happen to:

Babaları ölürse çocukların hali ne olacak?

What will become of the children if their father dies?

4.correct size

Onlar bana olmadı (çok küçük veya çok büyükler)

They  didn’t suit to me (too small or too big)

O gömlek bana olmadı (bir beden küçüğü lazımdı

That shirt didn’t suit to me (I needed a size smaller)

5. aux v. in conditional sentences formed by nouns and the –mış, -acak, -an participles:

a.   birisi ararsa lütfen bana bildirin (arar =>v)

b.   birisi arayacak olursa lütfen bana bildirin (arayacak=>p)

If anyone should call, please let me know

1. bana sorarsan o bir sersemdir
2. bana soracak olursan o bir sersemdir

If you ask me, he’s a fool

1. erken yola çıksalardı, zamanında varırlardı
2. erken yola çıkmış olsalardı, zamanında varmış olurlardı

If they’d started earlier, they would have arrived in time

eğer kuş olsaydın uçabilirdin (kuş=>n)

If you were a bird, you could fly. 

Yaşamın olması için hava ve su olmalıdır (yaşam,hava,su=>n)  

For there to be life, there must be air and water.

We don’t use ol-

1.identifying or asking about the subject

Bugün Pazar (not -Pazar oluyor)  - today is Monday

2.indicating a quality, an attribute

Dünya yuvarlaktır (not –yuvarlak oluyor) - the world is round

Sinan on yaşında (not – yaşında oluyor) - Sinan is ten years old  

*In this tye of sentence you will often see added –dır (dir,dur,dür,tır,tir,tur,tür) to the predicate.

3. (with locative suffix) indicating a place

İstasyon bir kilometre uzakta (not- uzakta oluyor)– the station is a kilometer away

4.indicating possession, actual or intented

Para senin değil, Sinan’ın (not – Sinan’ın oluyor) – the money’s not yours, it’s Sinan’s

Paket sana (not- sana oluyor) – the parcel is for you

Nice examples, scalpel. It would be even useful to memorize some of them. Thank you again.