Juozas Olekas

Juozas Olekas MEP
Member of the European Parliament
In office 2 July 2019 – 15 July 2024
Constituency	Lithuania
Minister of National Defence
In office 13 December 2012 – 13 December 2016
Prime Minister	Algirdas Butkevičius
Preceded by	Rasa Juknevičienė
Succeeded by	Raimundas Karoblis
In office 4 July 2006 – 9 December 2008
Prime Minister	Gediminas Kirkilas
Preceded by	Gediminas Kirkilas
Succeeded by	Rasa Juknevičienė
Personal details
Born	(1955-10-30) 30 October 1955 Bolshoy Ungut, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Political party	Social Democratic Party
Alma mater	Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Vilnius University

Juozas Olekas (born 30 October 1955) is a Lithuanian surgeon and politician, a former Minister of National Defence, from 2006 to 2008. In 1990 and from 2003 to 2004 he also served as the Health Minister. In 2019 he was elected to the European Parliament.

Olekas studied at Kaunas Institute of Medicine from 1974 to 1976, and at Vilnius University from 1976 to 1980.

Between 1994 and 1997 he was a chief physician at the Vilnius University hospital.

Olekas is married to Aurelija Olekienė, they have two daughters.

Olekas was Vilija Blinkevičiūtė's main competitor in the 2021 Social Democratic Party of Lithuania leadership election, finishing second with 44% of the vote.

External links

• Biography at the Ministry of National Defence
• Biography at the Lithuanian government website (in Lithuanian)