Olli-Pekka Heinonen

Olli-Pekka Heinonen      (civil servant)
Born	25 June 1964
Nationality	Finnish
Alma mater	University of Helsinki
Finnish politician and civil servant. Bilderberg boost in 2011, when he became Prime Minister's state secretary.  Director General of the International Baccalaureate Organization  In office 1 May 2021 - Present  Finland/Minister of Transport and Communications In office April 15, 1999 - January 3, 2002  Finland/Minister of Education In office February 11, 1994 - April 14, 1999

Not to be confused with Olli Heinonen, a International Atomic Energy Agency official and fellow Bilderberger.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen is a Finnish communications director, politician and former civil servant. From March 2012 to June 2014, Heinonen served as State Secretary to Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen. He also continued in office during Alexander Stubb’s term as prime minister. Heinonen served as the Executive Director of the National Board of Education from 2016 to 2021, after which he joined the IBO.

Heinonen was a Member of Parliament from 1995 to 2002. He was Minister of Education in the Aho Cabinet from 1994 to 1995 and in Lipponen I Cabinet from 1995 to 1999. In Lipponen II's cabinet, he was Minister of Transport (1999–2000) and Minister of Transport and Communications (2000–2002).

Career

Heinonen graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Helsinki in 1990. In 1990–1991 he worked as the planning secretary of the Coalition Party's parliamentary group and in 1991–1994 as a special assistant to the Minister of Education Riitta Uosukainen.

From 1994 to 1999, he served as the Minister of Education in the Aho cabinet and Lipponen I Cabinet after being assistant of Riitta Uosukainen, the previous Minister of Education. In 1995, Heinonen was elected to the Parliament of Finland from Satakunta. In the Lipponen II Cabinet, he served as the Minister of Transport and Communications from 1999 to 2002.

Worthless investments

When Heinonen was the Minister of Transport, Sonera bought 3G rights in Germany for approximately EUR 3.5 billion in certain frequency bands. These later proved worthless. State ownership in Sonera was held by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Chancellor of Justice Paavo Nikula investigated Sonera's transactions and the activities of the Board in the autumn of 2002. In his conclusion, he stated that the ministers or officials of the Ministries of Transport and Communications did not violate their official duties or acted illegally. The report did not reveal that the transactions had been discussed within the Board of Directors or between the Board of Directors and Sonera's representatives.

Heinonen had the greatest responsibility in the affair and announced in October 2001 that he would leave politics.

Later Career

In February 2002, he became the director of the state broadcaster YLE's Finnish-language television. He was responsible for the transfer from analog television to digital television in Finland.

Heinonen became Director of Yle Publications in 2011 in connection with the company's organizational reform. In January 2012, he announced that he would leave YLE and become Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen's state secretary. Heinonen started on March 1, 2012 as Katainen's state secretary.

In May 2015, Heinonen became state secretary of all National Coalition Party cabinet ministers. In October 2016, Heinonen was elected Director General of the National Board of Education.

Since 1 May 2021 Heinonen is the new Director General of the International Baccalaureate replacing Dr. Siva Kumari. This is the first time the International Baccalaureate appoints a Director General who has publicly held a political position before.

 

Event Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/2001	24 May 2001	27 May 2001	Sweden Stenungsund	The 49th Bilderberg, in Sweden. Reported on the WWW.

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