Olli Kunnari (born February 2, 1982) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. He is one of the key players in the Finnish national volleyball team. During the early years of his career, he played in the Finnish Champion league. In year 2004, he left Finland to play in the French Pro-A Volleyball league where he played until the season of 2009. Olli played the 2009 season in the Polish league. His current team

Olympiacos SC Olympiacos Men's Volleyball ( el, Ολυμπιακός, ), commonly referred to as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name as Olympiacos CFP, is the men's volleyball department of the major Greek multi-sport club, Olympiacos CFP, ...

, the volleyball team of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

sports club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

Career

Kunnari started his

career in his hometown

Alahärmä Alahärmä is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated, together with Kortesjärvi and Ylihärmä, to Kauhava on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The ...

. When Kunnari become seventeen years old he moved to

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

and started to study in Varala sport

highschool A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. After that he played his first game in Finland Champion league season 2000–2001. Team was

Vammalan Lentopallo Vammalan Lentopallo — Valepa is a volleyball team in southwest Finland founded in 1978. It is based in the Vammala district of the town of Sastamala, in the Pirkanmaa, Pirkanmaa Region. Valepa plays in the highest level in Finland. History Va ...

. He played in Vammala season 2000–2001 and 2001–2002 then he changed to a bigger team named

Pielaveden Sampo Pielaveden Sampo is a professional volleyball club based in Pielavesi, a small town in Eastern Finland. The club is one of the most successful teams in the Finland volleyball league. The team has become a national champion in the national volle ...

. In Pielaveden Sampo Olli became star. He was his team's major player and win his first Finland Champion season 2003–2004. Before that he captured one bronze medal season 2003. Season 2004 Kunnari was chosen as best player in Finland league and also in Finland league All-Stars team. After four seasons in Finland, Olli started his professional volleyball career in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Pro A-league. His team was Beauvais where Olli became a major player. Olli played two seasons in Beauvais until he signed a contract with AS Cannes. In AS Cannes Kunnari he won in his first season the France Cup, and came in league 3. place. Next season

AS Cannes Association Sportive de Cannes Football (; commonly referred to as AS Cannes or simply Cannes) is a French association football club based in Cannes. The club was formed 1902 as a sports club and currently plays in the Championnat National 3, ...

he won again the France Cup and come in league 3. place. Media chose Olli too in season France Pro A-league All-Stars team. After France Pro A -league Kunnari made contract with Polish league team Olsztyn. There he played one season before he changed to Olympiakos team in Greece.

National team

Olli Kunnari has played over 130 national team games. He is team major player with

Mikko Esko Mikko Esko (born 3 September 1978) is a Finnish volleyball player, a member of Finland men's national volleyball team and Finnish club Vammalan Lentopallo. Personal life Esko was born in Vammala, Finland. He is married to Saara (née Loikkanen ...

and

Tuomas Sammelvuo Tuomas Petteri Sammelvuo (born 16 February 1976) is a Finnish professional volleyball coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach for the Canada national team and the Polish PlusLiga team, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle. Sammelvuo is s ...

. In the European Championships 2007 Finland's national team came in 4. place and Olli played arguably the best volleyball of his career. He was the third best server in competition and second best receiver in the competition.

Achievements

Personal: * All-Stars player in Polish league 2009 * France league All-Stars player 2008 * Best player in Finland league 2004 * All-Stars player in Finland league 2004 Team: * 4. place in European Championship 2007 * France league bronze medal 2007, 2008 * France Cup win 2007 * Finland Champion 2004, 2012 * Finland league 3. place 2003 * Greece Cup-silver 2009 * Greece volleyball league champion 2010

Teams

*2000–01: Vammalan Lentopallo *2001–02: Vammalan Lentopallo *2002–03: Pielaveden Sampo *2003–04: Pielaveden Sampo *2004–05: Beauvais *2005–06: Beauvais *2006–07: AS Cannes *2007–08: AS Cannes *2008–09: AZS Olsztyn *2009–10: Olympiacos Piraeus *2011–19: Vammalan Lentopallo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunnari, Olli 1982 births Living people People from Alahärmä Olympiacos S.C. players Finnish men's volleyball players Finnish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate volleyball players in Poland Sportspeople from South Ostrobothnia