I started to make things out of wood already as a young boy on the first grade in elementary school. The principal was a skillful man who introduced the schoolboys to the fine art of woodwork. An example of this is a coat hanger which I made in 1962 and which is still in use. In the upstairs of our house built in the post-war reconstruction period, I produced a variety of household utility objects together with my father using a workbench he himself had made. He had started to work with crafts already while serving at the front using mainly just one tool – a knife. As a boy, I admired his extremely skillful use of knife and axe and his all-round expertise in craft and construction.

Making things out of wood has been my hobby ever since. I have completed countless renovation projects for relatives from small-scale mending projects to the complete remodeling of my son’s house built in the post-war period. Between 1993 and 1994, I hand-built a violin that my youngest daughter still plays in the Orchestra of Polytechnics. I could conclude that finding solutions to tricky wood-related problems has been a part of my life ever since my adolescence!

Studies

After high school studies in 1971, I was granted admission to the degree program of Mechanical Wood Technology in Otaniemi University of Technology. Right from the start, it seemed I had made the right career choice. I completed my compulsory summer internships in Wilh. Schauman’s chipboard and plywood mill in 1972 and 1973. I spent the next summer in Winnipeg, Canada, where I enjoyed my time working in a small furniture factory which was founded by two Finns and is still active today. In the summer of 1975, it was time for me to complete my compulsory internship in Oulu Oy’s Pateniemi sawmill in Oulu. After my graduation in 1976, I spent the next year in army grays.

Career in Olavi Räsänen Oy

On the day of returning home from the dragoons, I attended a job interview in Mikkeli from where I had received a job offer. I started my long career in the all-round woodworking company Olavi Räsänen Oy on January 23, 1978.

For about six months, I worked as a sales engineer in the pallet department dealing with export projects in particular. I served as the chief of parquet and parquet installation department from the autumn of 1978 to the spring of 1986. Among other things, the company started the manufacture of three layer parquet in 1978. In the end of 1985, Olavi Räsänen Oy purchased a bankrupted edge glued board mill in Rantasalmi, and I was offered the position of the head of unit in the early summer of 1986. My long and interesting career as an edge glued board industrialist continued in Rantasalmi to 2010. In the best times in 1990s, more than 85 percent of the edge glued board was exported to Sweden, Norway, Germany and England. Back then, my tasks also included the overall responsibility for export sales.

Future Challenges

I was faced with new challenges in the beginning of 2010 as we embarked on an overall business development project in ORgroup. I will work as a project leader in this interesting project until the August of 2014, which marks the end of my 36-year career in the service of this employer. My tasks have been interesting and challenging.

In the spring of 2014, I attended a course on entrepreneurship organized by Small Business Center in Aalto University School of Business. On the course, I studied topics I have been working with throughout my career, this time from an entrepreneur’s perspective. The varied group of participants and competent lecturers provided us with excellent tools for starting a business – and here I am: an entrepreneur ready to find solutions to tough challenges in your company!

Family and Hobbies
My family includes my dear wife Tuula, our three children and our children’s families. I have seven lively grandchildren. In addition to the activities mentioned above, my hobbies also include photography and various forms of physical exercise. I enjoy especially cross-country skiing and ski trekking.