Matti Taneli Vanhanen ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born November 4, 1955) is the current Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Chairman of the Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland). In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. He is a journalist by profession.

Vanhanen was born in Jyväskylä, the son of professor Tatu Vanhanen, co-author of IQ and the Wealth of Nations, and Anni Tiihonen.

He read political science at the University of Helsinki, graduating as a Master of Social Sciences in 1989 . He was chairman of the Centre Party Youth League from 1980 to 1983. He also served as a member of the Espoo city council from 1981 to 1984. Vanhanen is a journalist by profession; he worked on the local newspaper Kehäsanomat as an editor (1985–1988) and editor-in-chief (1988–1991). In his column in Suomenmaa, he strongly condemned the Baltic Star pro-Estonian independence demonstration held in Helsinki in July 1985, calling the demonstration "provocative"..