Ola Rosling

Who Is Ola Rosling?

Ola Rosling is a Swedish statistician and the president of the Gapminder Foundation, which he co-founded with his father, Hans Rosling, and his wife, Anna Rosling Rönnlund. Known for his innovative approach to data presentation, Ola has tirelessly worked to dispel misconceptions about the world through interactive visual tools that simplify global statistics. His main mission is to improve public understanding of global trends and the quality of life worldwide. Gapminder is renowned for making complex development data accessible, transforming it into engaging charts that reveal surprising truths about global progress.

What is his Background?

Throughout his career, Ola Rosling has been a pioneer in democratizing data. In 1999, he led the development of Trendalyzer, a software tool that visualizes statistical data through dynamic charts, which was acquired by Google in 2007. During his time at Google, Ola and his team transformed Trendalyzer into the Google Motion Chart, a tool that revolutionized data visualization. As Google Public Data Product Manager, he played a key role in creating DSPL (Data Set Publishing Language), which integrated official statistics sources into Google search results, making public data more accessible.

In 2013, he returned to Gapminder to develop free educational materials and launched the Ignorance Project, an initiative aimed at measuring and correcting widespread ignorance about basic global facts. His work on this project culminated in the co-authorship of Factfulness, an international bestseller that reveals how public perceptions of the world are distorted by pessimism and misinformation, offering a more optimistic view based on facts.