Osmo Antero Wiio (4 February 1928 – 20 February 2013) was a Finnish academic, journalist, author and member of the Finnish Parliament.[1] He is best known for his somewhat facetious Wiio's laws around communication, succinctly summarized as "Communication usually fails, except by accident".
Wiio was born in Porvoo, Finland. His parents were actor Ivar Fredrik Wiio and seamstress Jaana Erika Sanelma Aariainen. He married home economics teacher Leena Marjatta Waronen (1928–2012) in 1954. They had two children, Antti Juhani (1955), and Juha James (1957). Wiio graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1954 with a masters in political science. He received his doctorate from the University of Tampere in 1968.[2]
Wiio was an economics professor at the University of Helsinki from 1973 to 1975. He then became a Member of the Finnish Parliament as part of the Liberal People's Party from 1975 to 1979. He returned to the University of Helsinki as head of the Department of Communication from 1978 through 1991.
Wiio authored numerous articles and books on communications. He later founded Tekniikan Maailma magazine in 1952, selling it a year later. Wiio received the International Communication Association (ICA) Industry Award in 1974 as well as the 2000 Nokia Award. At the beginning of the 2000s he was among the contributors of the Kanava magazine.[3]
Wiio was also a prominent Finnish radio amateur with the callsign OH2TK and the honorary chairman of the Finnish Amateur Radio League since 1994.
