Olli Ilmari Rehn (born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs. He had previously served as Commissioner for Enlargement. He has held a variety of political positions in European institutions as well as in Finland.
Born in Mikkeli

Mikkeli

Mikkeli is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

 in Eastern Finland

Eastern Finland

Eastern Finland was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2010. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia.- History :...

, Rehn studied economics, international relations and journalism at Macalester College

Macalester College

Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...

, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

, USA. He gained a master's degree in political science from the University of Helsinki

University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...

 in 1989, and a PhD from the University of Oxford in 1996 on the subject of "Corporatism and Industrial Competitiveness in Small European States".

Rehn also played football for his hometown club Mikkelin Palloilijat

Mikkelin Palloilijat

Mikkelin Palloilijat is a Finnish football club, based in Mikkeli. Club was formed in 1929 and has also had teams in volleyball, ice hockey and bandy. It played in the Finnish First Division from 2004 to 2006 but was relegated to Kakkonen at the end of the season...

 in Finland's
top division Mestaruussarja (now Veikkausliiga

Veikkausliiga

Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Veikkausliiga is currently ranked as the 28th best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name...

) in his youth.

He began his political career already in youth politics as a regular member of the Finnish Centre Youth and became soon the Secretary General of the Nordic Centre Youth.