About

With over 30 years of experience, Olle Wallén is a seasoned general counsel with an impressive range of expertise in all major areas of business law including company law, M&A, contracts and litigation management. He is fluent in Swedish, English, German and has a working knowledge of French; each of which has proved useful over the course of his career. Prior to moving in-house, Wallén worked as a junior prosecutor for the Stockholm Prosecutor’s Office in the late 1970s and as a junior judge at Stockholm District Court, handling various criminal and civil matters in the process. He also served Styrbjörn Gärdes Attorneys as an attorney admitted to the Swedish Bar between 1980 and 1985. After gaining in-house experience at Nordstjernan AB as corporate counsel, then at NCC International AB as general counsel, Wallén joined Electrolux Home Products Inc. in July 1993. He stayed at Electrolux for the next 12 and a half years, working as corporate counsel (six years), senior vice president and general counsel for North America (two years) and senior vice president legal affairs in Europe (four years). In the process he handled major M&A transactions during the restructuring of Electrolux from a conglomerate to a white goods specialist. Wallén joined the world’s largest producer of outdoor power products, Husqvarna, in January 2006. Setting up the legal function from scratch, after Husqvarna was spun off from a larger entity, he now heads a 29-strong team. With a ‘resourceful’ and ‘inventive’ approach, Wallén established the strategy for the function ensuring consistency whilst allowing for flexible changes when needed. Wallén also established global coverage of the legal function for Husqvarna AB and its subsidiaries which span over 40 countries, whilst handling several major lawsuits in the US and Europe. His strategy has enabled the legal function to support the company on matters facing the day-to-day business, as well as some unexpected challenges. Reflecting his speciality in building, restructuring and managing legal departments, Wallén says ‘all services provided by the legal affairs team need to focus on prioritisation from the business point of view, follow company strategies and policies, and never cease to look for a more efficient way to contribute to the company’s bottom line’. With such a breadth of experience and expertise, it not surprising that he sat as chairman of the Group’s Sustainability Council and was secretary to the board of directors. Wallén retired in August 2015, but still acts in an advisory capacity.