Jan Erola (born 20 November 1969)[1] is a Finnish communications entrepreneur and former journalist and book publisher. Erola is the publisher of the online publication Nordic Defence Review and is also the CEO of his own Kravat Oy, a communications consultancy company.[2] Since January 2000, he has appeared hundreds of times as a regular news commentator in the popular Jälkivisaat weekly news analysis section of Yleisradio's TV1 morning television.[3]
Career
Jan Erola is the CEO of Kravat Oy, a communications consultancy. He is also the publisher of Nordic Defence Review. Previously, he worked as a journalist, book publisher, and program director of the Helsinki Book Fair. Since January 2000, he has appeared as a regular news commentator in the Jälkivisaat program section of Yleisradio's morning television.
Erola also worked as the communications and marketing manager of Yellow Film & TV Ltd. From 2004 to 2009, Erola was the publishing manager of Ajatus Kirjat, a non-fiction imprint of Gummerus Publishers. Erola has worked as a CEO and publisher for Helsinki Books Ltd.[4] One of biggest literary hits of Helsinki Books was Antti Tuomainen's crime novel Parantaja (The Healer).[5], which went on to become a global success and has now been published in 26 countries.[6]Erola was the program director of the Helsinki Book Fair 2016–2018.[7] In 2018, the four-day fair had a then record number of attendees: 85 616. [8]
He has worked as the publishing and communications manager for Paasilinna Publishing. [9] Throughout his career at the three publishing houses, he published roughly 400 titles spanning both non-fiction and fiction genres.
As a journalist, Erola was a staff writer for Ylioppilaslehti, Iltalehti, Helsingin Sanomat and Talouselämä. He was the editor-in-chief of Ylioppilaslehti (1998-2000).[10]
He is a columnist for Suomen Kuvalehti and has written columns for ET-lehti, Yleisradio's Radiomafia, Avotakka, Markkinointi & Mainonta, Metro (Finland edition), Valitut Palat, Me Naiset, Journalisti, and Helsingin Sanomat Sport pages. His blog, Kustantajan Kulma, focused on publishing.
Erola was a radio journalist and created content for Yleisradio Radio 1 and other Finnish TV shows. He has been a regular news commentator on the weekly YLE TV1 Morning program Jälkiviisaat (AKA In Hindsight) since 2000, appearing in hundreds of broadcasts.[11]
Through his company Kravat Oy, Erola worked as the part-time Head of Public Affairs of the Finnish Startup Community,[12] and has helped various startup companies with their funding and export efforts.
Kravat publishes the Nordic Defence Review. It has designed and published a professional networking tool software application HookedOn.[13] Erola formerly worked as an associate director for Kreab, a multinational communications agency, for both the London and Helsinki offices.[14]For several years, Erola was involved with the Sport and Healthtech startup event SMASH, e.g. by hosting the SMASH LONDON event in 2018.[15]
Personal life
Jan Erola has a Master of Social Sciences degree in recent/political history from Helsinki University. Born in London, Erola has also lived in Oxford with his then wife Anne Moilanen and family.[16]He sings and co-writes songs in a political history parody band, Punatähdet ("the Red Stars"), under the artist name of "Aatos Punanen.".[17] Punatähdet sings mainly in Finnish, but has performed e.g. in Canada, in Sointula BC.[18][19] Erola British vintage car enthusiast. He owns an old Mini and a Jaguar.[20]
Erola is the vice chair of the advisory board of the Finnish National Theatre[21] and a former member the board of the Finnish Society of Sport Sciences.[22]