“He was sick for a long time,” said Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, erstwhile Minister of discipline and Higher Education, a private friend of Andrzej Olechowski.
He was born on 9 September 1947 in Kraków. As he mentioned in 1 of his interviews, he took various classes in his youth. Reloaded coal at the railway station, worked on construction sites in Switzerland, collected peas at the farm, announced concerts. His interest in music led him to the Polish Radio, where he became a presenter in Program III. After the departure of Krzysztof Klenczone from Red Guitars from 1970 to 1972 he led as manager of his squad 3 Crowns. After graduating from the Main School of Planning and statistic in 1973 and receiving a PhD in economics in 1979, he began working in global institutions, including UNCTAD and the planet Bank. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he held key functions at the National Bank of Poland, reaching the position of first deputy president of NBP.
He was 1 of the most crucial economical experts in the period of systemic transformation. He attended the circular Table. After the uprising of the government, Jan Olszewski took over the minister of finance in 1992. He later became Minister of abroad Affairs in Waldemar Pawlak's office, leading Polish diplomacy at a crucial minute of building Poland's position on the global arena.
When he competed as an independent candidate in the 2000 presidential election, he won 17.3% of the vote, taking second place, which was 1 of the biggest surprises of the campaign. A year later, together with Maciej Plażyński and Donald Tuski, he was 1 of the “three tenors” establishing the Civic Platform.
The organization left in 2009, but remained active in public life as a commentator, expert and academic lecturer. In 2010 he applied again for the office of president of the Republic of Poland. He taught at respective universities, including the Jagiellonian University, the Academy of Catholic Theology and the Collegium Civitas, and published many studies on economics and abroad policy.
In addition to his political activities, Olechowski served on supervisory boards of many financial institutions and companies, including the Commercial Bank, ABB Poland, LOT, PKN Orlen and Vivendi, as well as engaged in the work of global organisations specified as the Trilateral Commission and the European Council on abroad Relations.
His achievements cover both the contribution to the construction of the Polish marketplace economy and the improvement of modern diplomacy. He was a figure who combined expert competence with political experience while preserving the independency of reasoning and readiness to critically measure public life. He warned against populism and the dismantling of democratic institutions, invariably sided with the regulation of law and rationality.
One of the architects of the Polish transformation left, who remained an crucial voice in the debate on the economy, politics and place of Poland in the planet for decades.
