The business story
Born in Seinäjoki, Finland, in 1950; educated at the United World College of the Atlantic with master’s degrees in political science (Helsinki), economics (LSE) and engineering physics (Helsinki University of Technology). Joined Nokia from Citibank in 1985; ran the mobile-phones division from 1990; CEO 1992–2006 and chairman 1999–2012. Refocused Nokia from a diversified conglomerate onto mobile phones, making it the global market leader before its post-2007 decline. Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell 2006–2015.
Before Nokia
Jorma Ollila was born on 15 August 1950 in Seinäjoki, Finland. His schooling was unusually international for a Finn of his generation: as a teenager he attended the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales. He then earned three master's degrees, in political science at the University of Helsinki, in economics at the London School of Economics, and in engineering physics at Helsinki University of Technology.
That spread of disciplines (policy, finance and hard science) mapped closely onto what a telecoms leader would later need: fluency with balance sheets, with the engineering of the product, and with the governments and standards bodies that shape the industry. He started out in international banking at Citibank before moving to Nokia in 1985.
Building Nokia into a mobile company
The Nokia Ollila joined was a nineteenth-century industrial group that at different times made paper, rubber goods including boots and tyres, cables, televisions and a still-secondary line of telecoms equipment. He became head of finance in 1986 and took over the mobile-phones division in 1990, as cellular service was beginning its shift from an executive niche to a mass market.
Named chief executive in 1992, he committed the entire company to mobile telephony and its networks. The legacy businesses (rubber, cables, paper, consumer electronics) were sold off, and capital and talent were redirected to phones. Through the 1990s and 2000s Nokia overtook much larger American, Japanese and European electronics rivals to become the world's biggest handset maker, at one point selling roughly one phone in three worldwide. In Finland it became a central pillar of exports, research spending and stock-market value.
Ollila was chairman from 1999 and stepped down as CEO in 2006, staying on as chairman until 2012. The iPhone arrived in 2007, Android soon after, and Nokia's hardware-led strengths counted for less in a software-and-apps contest. The handset business was sold to Microsoft across 2013 and 2014; Nokia continued as a network-equipment company.
