Finlandia Foundation National

Immediate Past President

Ossi Rahkonen was born in Turku, Finland in 1940. He lived for several years in Sweden during and after World War II as “a war child” and returned to Finland to attend Swedish schools and university. After obtaining a Master’s degree in economics and working for a few years as an economist for the Finnish Government in Helsinki, Rahkonen left Finland in 1967 to take up assignments for international consulting firms. He was stationed in Asia, Latin America and Africa before coming to the United States (Washington D.C.) in 1972 from Manila, Philippines to join the World Bank headquarters as an economist in the Asia and Pacific department. He worked for the World Bank for 17 years in various managerial positions, and was involved with lending operations worldwide.

Rahkonen joined the Embassy of Finland in Washington D.C. in 1989 as Counselor and Director of the Finnish Trade Center. In 1994 he established own consulting firm, which is involved with international project finance and business consulting.  A member of Finlandia Foundation National Capital Chapter (FFNCC) since 1972, he has served as its Vice President (1992-94) and President (2001-04 and again from 2008 – 2010), and he is an executive member of the European Institute and World Affairs Council in Washington D.C.

Rahkonen served as president of Finlandia Foundation National (FFN) from 2013-2020, after 10 years as an FFN Trustee.

Married with two adult children (one married in the U.S. and one in Finland) and five grandchildren, Ossi Rahkonen is Knight, Order of the Lion of Finland.