Juan Luis Ossa Bulnes

Juan Luis Ossa Bulnes (11 October 1942 – 28 April 2026) was a Chilean lawyer, academic, mining businessman and politician.

Early life and education Ossa was born on 11 October 1942 in Santiago, to Adolfo Ossa Joglar and Ana Bulnes Sanfuentes. In March 1971 he was one of the founders of the newspaper Tribuna, which opposed the government of Salvador Allende, and in March 1972 he was appointed president of the PN Youth, as well as head of its political training. At the same time, he served on the board of the National Mining Society (SONAMI). In the 1973 elections, he was elected deputy for the First Metropolitan District (1973–1977). He joined the National Defense Committee and was among the deputies who promoted the Agreement of 22 August 1973, denouncing alleged abuses of the rule of law by the Popular Unity government of Salvador Allende.

Ossa was unable to finish his legislative term after the dissolution of the National Congress of Chile on 21 September 1973.

Journalist Manuel Salazar stated in his book Contreras, Historia de un Intocable that Juan Luis Ossa Bulnes was head of the Rolando Matus Command, a shock group that arose during the Popular Unity government under the umbrella of the National Party.

During the military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet, he participated in the drafting of the Organic Law on Mining Concessions and the Mining Code. He also published several academic works, including the two-volume treatise Derecho de Minería, with editions in 1989, 1992, 1999, and 2007, which includes comparative legislation from Latin America and was described by El Mercurio as the most comprehensive work on the subject in Chile. As a professional, he received the Public Law Seminar Award granted by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

In 1983, he joined the first leadership of the National Union Movement (MUN), a precursor of National Renewal.

Upon his appointment at Codelco, in May 2010 he was accused by Socialist senator Camilo Escalona of being "a prominent representative of the private mining sector’s corporate lobby." Ossa was the vice-president of the Chilean Bar Association and a member of National Renewal.

Juan Luis Ossa Bulnes died on 28 April 2026, at the age of 83.