Ólafur Ragnar
GRÍMSSON

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson served as President of Iceland from 1996-2016. Previously, he was Minister of Finance, Member of Parliament, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the first Professor of Political Science at the University of Iceland. He now serves as Chairman of the Arctic Circle, which he founded in 2013 with various Arctic partners. The Arctic Circle Assembly held in Iceland every October has become the largest annual international gathering on the Arctic, attended by more than 2000 participants from over 70 countries. Arctic Circle also organizes specialized Forums in other countries, to date in twelve countries across Asia, Europe, and North America.