Former President of the Republic of Finland (1994-2000). He founded Crisis Management Initiative in 2000. In 2005 he facilitated the peace process between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. He acted as the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the future status process for Kosovo (2005-2008). He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. He has served most of his career in the Finnish Foreign Ministry and the UN, including Special Representative of the Secretary General for Namibia and State Secretary, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. He graduated from the University of Oulu.