Olli-Pekka Heinonen

Olli-Pekka Heinonen (born 25 June 1964) is a Finnish politician and public servant. During his career as a politician he represented the National Coalition Party.

Career

Heinonen was born in Eurajoki. He graduated as Master of Laws from the University of Helsinki in 1990. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the Minister of Education in the Aho cabinet and Lipponen I Cabinet after being assistant to Riitta Uosukainen, the previous Minister of Education. In 1995, Heinonen was elected to the Parliament of Finland, representing Satakunta. In the second Lipponen Cabinet, he served as the Minister of Transport and Communications from 1999 to 2002.

Heinonen left politics in 2002 when he was appointed a manager at Yleisradio, the public broadcasting company of Finland. He was responsible for the transfer from analogue television to digital television in Finland. In 2012, he was appointed state secretary of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, and in 2015 Heinonen became state secretary of all National Coalition Party cabinet ministers. In September 2016, he was appointed general director of the Finnish National Agency for Education. This is the first time the International Baccalaureate has appointed a Director-General who previously held a political position.