Olof Pettersson joins Columbia Road

Hi Olof, how did you get good at what you do?

I started out studying music and sound design and aimed to work in the game industry, but the games I was interested in playing was not being made, so I started figuring out how to code games myself. Once I overcame the fear of coding, that I think many feel, venturing  into other areas of programming felt wide open.

This is generally how I go about things. I have managed to create a somewhat fearless attitude towards learning new things over recent years. Whenever I come across something that I don’t fully understand, I get motivated to learn it in depth. My curiosity about the world, and wanting to learn more about it, is a lifelong goal that I am working every day towards perfecting. This is what led me on my journey in web development in the first place. 

Where have you earned your spurs?

At university I pursued an associate's degree within music and sound design. This might seem far away from software development, and in some ways it is. It however taught me valuable methods of audio visual technology which set me up with the relevant experience needed for working at Mediatec. There, I not only put my audio visual experience to work, but also my capabilities in programming. This environment together with my own personal pursuit, really allowed me to focus on and grow my skill set as a developer.

Why Columbia Road?

The people! Since coming here I’ve been surprised at how much value is placed on caring for the individual. Kindness is shown when people are feeling down and props are given when good work has been done, that goes a long way to make one feel welcome. Not only that, there’s also a high interest within the company for sustainability and green thinking, which really speaks to me.

Lauri, what will make our clients love Olof?

“Olof does not only possess great programming skills, he is an avid learner, great listener and professional problem solver. He has an innate ability to look at things from different perspectives to get a clear picture of the problem at hand. His eagerness to learn new things makes him fearless in approaching challenges in new ways. Adding in his genuine interest in other people makes him a great asset to any team, both for his skills and as a colleague.” says Lauri Eloranta, Managing Partner at Columbia Road.

What makes your heart beat a little faster?

"Sustainability, science, music and moral philosophy. 

We live in a changing world where we might see the first humans start to live on other celestial bodies, while also having to do massive amounts of hard work in order to fix the one we have taken for granted. Answering the questions of how to live a good, sustainable life, is something I think about a lot and I take it with me into everything I do.

There are no simple answers to questions of this magnitude but having an open mind and trying to do the harder, right thing, in the face of easy solutions, is something that really gets me going." says Olof.