Yrjö Ollila was a visual artist, designer and muralist born in 1887 in Helsinki. As a child he lost both his parents and was raised by his aunt Annette Rapp and her husband, the artist Alex Rapp. From 1903–1906, he studied at the drawing school of the Finnish Art Society with fellow students Jalmari Ruokokoski, Marcus Collin, and Alvar Cawén. Ollila was an open-minded experimenter who crossed different lines of art forms, made caricatures, theater productions and designed wallpapers.

     Publisher Yrjö Weilin raised funds for Ollila's first trip abroad to Paris in 1907. There the artist befriended fellow artist Magnus Enckell and in 1912 joined the Septem Group, the first significant Finnish artist group. Ollila's breakthrough was at Septem's third exhibition in 1914, where his decorative landscape was also on display from Korplahti in 1913.

     In 1914 Ollila also made study trips to Florence and Rapallo, but had to to return to Finland at the start of the World War. In 1919, he and the actress Elli Tompuri attempted to establish a theater that would highlight the newer playwrights, but it went bankrupt a year later and he moved his family to Paris. While there, he created movie posters, wallpaper patterns and designs for toys as well as doing set designs. His wife, Lylli, who was also a painter, made artificial flowers and designed wreaths. From there they moved to the French commune Saint-Germain-en-Lay where they stayed until 1927. In France his painting style gradually changed towards neoclassicism.

     In 1927, Ollila and businessman Uuno Sinervä founded the Helsinki Art Dye-Works (Helsingin taidevärjäämö), a firm devoted to creating designer fabrics. In addition to his designs, he helped develop new technology for the dyeing process. In addition to his canvases and set design work, he did murals for several buildings, including the elementary school on Tehtaankatu Street (1914) and the Eira branch of the Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (1927). He also created an altarpiece depicting the Crucifixion for a church in Kontiolahti (1929). His last work was a large ceiling mural for the Finnish National Theatre (1932). This was considered his last great work of art. His death that same year was attributed to poisoning from the various dyes and pigments he had been exposed to.

     Works by the artist have been shown at exhibitions in the Salo Art Museum Veturitalli, Didrichsen Art Museum, Hämeenlinnan Art Museum, Varkauden Art Museum, the Sara Hildénin Art Museum, Turun Art Museum,  Jyväskylän Art Museum, and the Ataneum Art Museum (Finnish National Gallery). 

     The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• The Finnish National Gallery

• The Espoo Museum of Modern Art

• Tampere Art Museum

• Hiekka Art Museum

• Imatra Art Museum

• Riihimäen Art Museum

• Wiipuri Museum collection

• The Theater Museum (Teatterimuseo) Helsinki