Matti Lakio was born in 1947. After his studies in economic and social history in the University of Helsinki he started in research post to write the books of the history of industry in Eastern Finland and several local histories and articles. The Central Archives for Finnish Business Records (ELKA) started in Mikkeli in 1981, and he changed from archive customer to the director of ELKA. ELKA is one of the largest private archives in Finland. He is the member of the board of the Finnish Business Archive Association and the steering committee of Section for Business and Labour Archives of the International Council on Archives (ICA).