Uolevi Raade

Uolevi Raade (standing to the left) with Urho Kekkonen (sitting) in 1961. Tauno Uolevi Raade (5 July 1912 – 13 May 1998) was a Finnish industrialist and a long-time managing director of Neste (now Neste Oil), the Finnish national oil refining company.

Biography Uolevi Raade was born in 1912 in Turku to parents Kaarle Raade (previously Randell), a deputy president of the court and Agnes Wittfooth, an artist belonging to the old Wittfooth merchant family. He matriculated from the Turku Lyceum and received university degrees from Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) in 1935 and Åbo Akademi in 1942. At TKK, he was one of the founders of the student flying club. During the Second World War he initially served as a fighter pilot, but was soon transferred into the industry.

Raade's career started in industry from 1937 to 1942 (for example at Lokomo). In 1945, he was appointed the director of Ministry of Trade and Industry, where he planned the payment of war reparations stipulated by the Soviet Union. Raade is said to have made detailed plans and schedules for the war reparations, thanks to which Finland managed to pay its war reparations to the Soviet Union in full.

Raade and his friend, Prime Minister and from 1956 President of the Republic Urho Kekkonen were responsible for promoting the project;

The former headquarters building of Neste, now occupied by Accountor, is colloquially called Raaden hammas "Raade's tooth". It was constructed from 1973 to 1978 and was the tallest office building in Finland until 2025. Raade oversaw the construction of the new office building carefully, down to the minute details.

Raade received the honorary title of vuorineuvos (the highest one awarded to industrialists) in 1962. Under Raade's leadership, Neste became the largest company in Finland at the time.

Raade died in Helsinki in 1998 and is buried at the Naantali cemetery.