Hämäläinen began his career in 1965 by taking part in ice racing events with rental cars. Хямяляйнен начал свою карьеру в 1965 году, принимая участие в ледовых гонках.
Pirkko Hämäläinen (b. 1961) studied the social sciences at the University of Turku and joined her country’s Foreign Service in 1989.She has held various posts at the Finnish Foreign Ministry and at Finland’s embassies to the United States, Iceland, Austria and Estonia. На внешнеполитической службе с 1989 года. Занимала различные посты в Министерстве иностранных дел Финляндии и посольствах в США, Исландии, Австрии и Эстонии.