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Olli Vänskä

Olli Yrjö Antero Vänskä
Born June 1, 1981, Riihimäki

Bachelor of Arts 2014 (Musicology), University of Helsinki
Bachelor of Business Administration 2006 (international trade), Lahti University of Applied Sciences

Journalist 2011– Talentum Oyj
Musician 2002–

Publications, awards and special achievements:
2011 Best Band – Finnish Metal Awards
2011 Best Album (Stand Up And Fight) – Finnish Metal Awards
2011 Best cover art (Stand Up And Fight) – Finnish Metal Awards
2010 Artist of the Decade, Terrorizer magazine 1/8
2009 Cultural prize of the Arts Council of Häme
2006 Best New Band – Metal Hammer UK ( readers’ poll)

Photo: Jari Tomminen
Written by Olli Vänskä (Tomas Sjöblom, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington

My dream

I am pretty bad at planning for the future but I’m a seeker by nature. I’m afraid of becoming too content with my current situation so I constantly try new things.

Both of my careers, as a musician and as a journalist, started by accident, and were the result of giving new opportunities a chance. I mean to keep applying the same principle in the future.

I strive to find ways to create something new, and to experience the world and different roles in it in as many ways as possible. At the moment my desk is cluttered with several articles, interviews and drafts of new music.

My role model for travel and also partly for my job is the reporter Rauli Virtanen – although due to my nature, scouring the remotest parts of the world may only remain a dream. I guess my professional ideal is some sort of a Renaissance Man.

Olli Vänskä visiting Silicon Valley and the Google headquarters in 2015.

 

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