The Marva family, who made a living as sailors and herring fishermen, arrived in Rauma from the Åland Islands in the 1850s.
Olavi Marva's father, Frans Malen, sailed as first mate on large ocean ships and orbited the globe three times. However, he swore to his wife that if he died young, the sons of the family must not be allowed to go to sea.
Frans died in 1918. Olavi dropped out of school and began helping the family - not at sea, but on land. Olav became an entrepreneur. In the 1930s, the name of the family changed to Marva at the same time as tens of thousands of other families made their name Finnish.
Founded in 1945 by Olavi Marva, the one-man company has grown into the Marva Group, a company with over 60 employees and an international presence.
Explore our history with the timeline.