Consul General of Finland in Los Angeles

Ambassador Okko-Pekka Salmimies September 2021­ –

 

Okko-Pekka Salmimies took up his duties as Consul General of Finland in Los Angeles in September 2021. Ambassador Okko-Pekka Salmimies represents Finland in thirteen Western US states as Consul General of Finland. Salmimies is an expert in international trade and economy-related questions, and he joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 1997.

Ambassador Salmimies has previously served as an Ambassador and Head of Mission at the Permanent Delegations of Finland to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris, Ambassador for Team Finland, responsible for export and investment promotion services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of Trade Policy, Director for Civil Society. With the Ministry, he also served as a Head of Cabinet and Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade, Development, and European Affairs and Desk Officer for trade policy and transatlantic relations at the EU Delegation of Finland in Brussels.

Prior to his current positioning in Los Angeles as a Consul General of Finland, Ambassador Salmimies worked as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs in Helsinki. His research focused on foreign policy issues related to international trade, technology, transatlantic relations, and sustainable development. Salmimies’s most current publications cover topics related to strategic autonomy, the EU’s new trade policy, and green transition.

Ambassador Salmimies holds a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Helsinki, which he obtained in 1993. He has also studied at Ludwig Maximilians Universität in München. Salmimies has been married to Mrs. Riikka Tiitola-Salmimies since 1995, and they have three adult children.