Olli Kantanen has been Finland’s Ambassador to Sweden since 1 September 2025.
Olli Kantanen has been employed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland since 1994. Most recently, Kantanen served as Director General of the Euro-Atlantic Department. Previously, he worked as Director General of the Department for Europe (2022–2024) and Deputy Director General of the same department (2018–2022). From 2014 to 2018, he served as Finland’s Ambassador to Riga. Before that, Kantanen has served as Director of the Unit for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and he has held a number of different EU-related positions both at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy of Finland in Tallinn (2001-2004) and in Berlin (1997-2001).
Olli Kantanen holds a master’s degree in social sciences from Åbo Akademi University. He also holds a degree in European Studies from Tilburg University in the Netherlands. His hobbies include outdoor sports, especially cross-country skiing, cycling, orienteering, and running.