Olavi Uusivirta

Olavi Uusivirta (born 28 July 1983 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish rock/pop singer, songwriter and actor. Childhood and education Before his school years Uusivirta moved with his parents first to Kotka and later to Karkkila due to his mother's work. At the end of elementary school he started guitar and piano lessons. He also attended art classes and a theatre club that his mother directed. In 1995 he attended the Mustikkamaa midsummer festival in Helsinki where young Uusivirta saw Ismo Alanko perform. This performance inspired him and guided his life more towards music and performing. He also attended Ruisrock in Turku in 1996. In the years 1997-1998 he also attended the Roskilde Rock Festival in Roskilde, Denmark. When his family moved back to Helsinki in 1996 he started at the Kruununhaka secondary school in a music oriented class. At the end of his secondary school years his main instrument was drums, but slowly he grew more interest in singing. He and his friends also had a cover-band in which he sung in. During his high school years his cousin Jiri Kuronen encouraged him to try songwriting and asked him to provide lyrics to the songs he wrote. Inspired, Uusivirta started to write his own songs. He graduated from Kallio Upper Secondary School of the Performing Arts in 2002 and wrote a recording contract with Universal Music in the spring of his senior year. In 2002 while working on his first album, Uusivirta auditioned for the Helsinki Theatre Academy and got into the last stage of auditions but didn't get in. He tried a second time in 2005 with the same result and got in on his third try in 2006. He graduated with a master's degree in acting in 2012.