Born in 1935, Kristinehamn, Sweden.
Law Degree from Stockholm University 1959. Law practice County Court Karlstad. Swedish Defense College 1982-1983.
| 1962 | 1983 | Member of the Swedish Foreign Service with postings in Bonn, Nairobi, New York (UN) and the Hague. |
| 1983 | 1988 | Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sweden to the Conference on Disarma-ment, CD, Geneva, Chairman CD-negotiations on the Chemical Weapons Convention, 1984 and 1987. |
| 1990 | 1991 | Chairman Committee on principles Charter of Paris. |
| 1988 | 1992 | Ambassador and Head of the Swedish Delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). |
| 1991 | 1997 | Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq, UNSCOM. |
| 1997 | 2000 | Ambassador of Sweden to the United States. |
| 1998 | 2003 | Member Advisory Board on Disarmament of the Secretary General of the United Nations. |
| 2000 | 2003 | Special Governmental Commissioner to the Swedish Government, assessing Sweden’s security policy during the Cold War. |
| 2000 | 2002 | Special Governmental Commissioner to the Swedish Government, investigating the water of foreign submarine intrusions into Swedish territorial waters from 1980. |
| From 1 July 2002 | Chairman of the Governing Board SIPRI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. | |
| 2001 | 2007 | High Commissioner on National Minorities appointed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). |
Member Board of Directors of NTI (Turner / Nunn), Nuclear Threat Initiative, Washington, since 2001. Member Board Axel and Margaret Ax-son Johnson Foundation, since 2001. Chairman Swedish Pugwash 2005. Member Royal Academy of the War Science, Stockholm. Member Advisory Board of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Center, Monterey Institute since 1997. Member Canberra Commission on Nuclear Weapons 1995 – 1996 and Tokyo Forum on Disarmament since 1998.
Married to Christina K.Oldfeldt-Ekéus.
Läs Gunnar Lassinanttis text om Rolf Ekéus på Palmecentrets hemsida.
