Johan Olof Wallin

• Type — Archbishop • Honorific Prefix — The Most Reverend • Name — Johan Olof Wallin • Native Name — (English later Walleen) • Title — Archbishop of Uppsala Primate of Sweden • Church — Church of Sweden • Archdiocese — Uppsala • Appointed — 1837 • Term — 1837–1839 • Term End — 30 June 1839 • Predecessor — Carl von Rosenstein • Successor — Carl Fredrik af Wingård • Consecration — 28 March 1824 • Consecrated By — Carl von Rosenstein • Rank — Metropolitan Archbishop • Born — 15 October 1779 • Birthplace — Stora Tuna, Dalarna, Sweden • Died — 30 June 1839 • Place of death — Uppsala, Sweden • Spouse — Anna Maria Dimander (1810-1839) • Alma Mater — University of Uppsala

He was born in Stora Tuna in Dalarna (now part of Borlänge Municipality, Dalarna County) as the oldest son in a large family, and went to school in Falun. His parents did not have much money, but because he was a bright student he managed to enroll at the University of Uppsala in 1799. Four years later he obtained his Master of Arts, and after another three years he was ordained minister. While he was studying, his first poem was published in Upsala tidningar (1802). In the following years, he wrote and translated several other poetic works, and received several awards from the Swedish Academy for his work. Among his awarded works were translations of Horace and Virgil; and for a song about Gustav III he was awarded the high sum of 200 ducats. His poetry was, however, by some considered too rhetorical and out-dated compared to the then flourishing Romantic poets. Wallin took the criticism to heart, and adapted to the new style which was more emotional and less influenced by the Latin poets.

In 1810 he married Anna Maria Dimander. In the same year, he was elected to the Swedish Academy. In addition to this, he took it upon himself to commission the creation of a new Swedish book of hymns. The project was finished in 1816. It was approved by the king in 1819, and printed the same year. Of the 500 hymns, Wallin had written 128, translated 23, and involved himself in the revision of another 178. Additionally the structure or arrangement of the hymnal was mainly his creation. In 1827, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1835, Wallin founded the Swedish Mission Society (Svenska Missionssällskapet), an organization for missions work among the Sámi people, together with Scottish Methodist missionary George Scott, industrialist Samuel Owen, Count Mathias Rosenblad, bishop Carl Fredrik af Wingård, and others. He held many different clerical posts throughout his life. Ultimately he was ordained Archbishop of Sweden in 1837. But before he had even moved to Uppsala (seat of the bishopric), he died a sudden death in 1839, and was buried in Stockholm. The Swedish Biographical Dictionary of 1906 indicates that he at his death was "mourned by the entire Swedish people". The Swedish Literature in Summary (1904) writes that no Swedish orator or preacher ever had his distinctive glow as a speaker. He was undoubtedly a talented person in literature and a most pious man. But he was weak in body, and this trait in combination with his strong work ethic may have caused stress on his health.

Wallin was the instigator of the progressive pioneering girls' school Wallinska skolan, the fourth serious educational girls' school in Sweden and the first in the capital of Stockholm, an initiative he convinced Anders Fryxell to take motivated by his view that women should be entitled to more serious education than given in a finishing school. He was also president of Pro Fide et Christianismo, a Christian education society which made an impact on the country's early public education system.

Johan Olof Wallin is recorded as poet, theologian, writer, hymnwriter and lutheran pastor.