Over many years, Olle Johansson has sent out pleas for donations, claiming that without our help his research could not continue. But because those pleas have become more frequent, it has raised concerns with people who are knowledgeable about his circumstances. They have forwarded to me certain information that questions the veracity of his claims. I feel compelled to share them now because I feel that I bear some responsibility for having forwarded some of his pleas for donations on my website. Also, I am quite concerned that he is appealing for donations even from those who really can’t afford to contribute. I received an email a couple of weeks ago from an elderly woman who recounted that Olle needed money to get a new computer working. This person said she was a pensioner, without much money, but she said she was going to send Olle $5 a month and wondered if I would ask others to do the same.
These are letters that I’ve received from people who have known Olle and his work experience for many years. Some of the information provided is very disquieting.
1) Letter from Dr. Ingvar Tagtstrom to Olle, dated Oct. 13, 2004, regarding a working group that was committed to helping Olle after he claimed that Karolinska Institute was forcing him to quit his research due to lack of funding.
“I knew at an early stage that you were questioned as a researcher by virtually the entire scientific community that worked in the field. But after several conversations with you, where you, with a brilliant verbal ability and with an impressive accumulation of arguments, convinced me that your research was quarantined simply because you possessed knowledge that threatened not only the industry but also other research colleagues. That is why you have been opposed by industry, funding agencies and Karolinska Institutet. Your conclusion was – as long as you get research grants, you can produce results that will shock the world, I am the answer to the riddle on the track and so on….
I fell into the trap in the same way as so many others.”
2) An article dated Oct. 27, 2014, by Gunni Nordstrom (journalist) about Associate Professor Olle Johansson at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, to the activists abroad supporting him.
“In the year 2003 Olle Johansson sent out an alarm that he did not have money for his laboratory rent in the Karolinska Institutet. Then the SIF union reacted again together with TCO Development. Olle Johansson got immediately 300,000 Swedish crowns for the rent to the Karolinska Institute for his laboratory, but he forgot to tell the union people that he already had got more than two million Swedish crowns from the Cancer and Allergy Foundation in Sweden since the year 2001…
In the year 2003, at the same time as the trade union intended to help Olle Johansson, the Swedish organization for the people suffering from electrohypersensitivity had started a campaign among their members to collect money for Olle Johansson so that he could stay at the Karolinska Institute and go on with his claimed work. He was very interested in this type of direct help, but he demanded to get the money to his private bank account. He got 226,000 Swedish crowns in May 2004, collected among people with small incomes, many of them had only sick leaves or pensions. Their hope was that Olle Johansson could do something for them. But there came no new scientific reports from him. Olle Johansson told me in 2004 that he planned to sell some of his equipment. I do not know what happened to the electron microscope he had got from Nokia. It must also be said that the money from the electrohypersensitive people was given to Olle Johansson in a form of a prize, as an award for work he had done earlier. Juridically it was a smart solution for Olle Johansson.”
3) From Mona Nilsson with correspondence to/from Olle:
From Olle, Oct. 14, 2014
“Unfortunately, the rumour is correct. I have been asked by my department to once more downsize the remaining space I have, due to my lack of funding to cover the space rent. It will, of course, hamper me even more.”
From Karolinska Institute when asked about its refusal to provide office space. dated Oct. 28, 2014
Translation: “All research groups are expected to raise enough funding to cover the costs and to adjust the activity to the income. In the case of Olle Johansson the economic review shows that he cannot cover all costs. Therefore the Institute is today paying for the rent of his office.“
4) Mona Nilsson questioned Olle about some of his claims and activities, Aug. 23, 2021.
Mona received answers to the questions — two years later — and most of the answers were: “I don’t remember.”
In his many emails and historically, he has asked for people to contribute money directly to his personal bank account. A very knowledgeable person in Sweden raises this as a potential legal problem. Normally, fundraising is done through an organization that accounts for, audits and reports on money raised. Olle has never indicated that he has such an organization and neither has he provided any financial report declaring how much money has been donated and how it has been used. This raises legal questions.
The history provided by these people raises many questions that could well shed a dark shadow on legitimate researchers. Those who contribute must have confidence that the recipients are ethical, honest, and trustworthy.
Sharon Noble, Director, Citizens for Safer Tech
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” William Shakespeare
Sent from my wired laptop with no wireless components. Practice Safe Tech.