John Papanikolaou is an economist and Honorary President of the Non-Profit Civil Partenership “Komvos-Node,” which he initiated and served as its first Chairman of the Board. Since 2004, he has worked as an economic advisor both in Greece and abroad, specializing in strategic planning. He has held positions as Chairman, Vice Chairman, and member of the Boards of Directors of several major companies and banks. 

He has served as the General Director of the International Center for Black Sea Studies, Deputy Governor representing Greece at the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, a member of the first Governing Committee of the University of Thessaly, and as an advisor to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris on governance issues. 

Earlier in his career, he worked in the government sector as Economic Advisor and Director of the Economic Office of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, as Chairman of the Council of Economic Experts at the Ministry of National Economy, and as Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Economic Diplomacy. 

He began his professional career as a Lecturer in Economics at the London School of Economics and Queen Mary College (London University). He graduated from the Economics Department of the Law School of the University of Athens, ranking first with honors (9&3/6). He later continued his studies at the London School of Economics (M.Sc. Econ with Distinction, again ranking first) and the London Graduate School for Business Studies (Senior Executive Program). He is also an Honorary Professor at the Kuban State University in Krasnodar, Russia, and an Honorary Doctor (Honoris Causa) of the State Technical University of Moldova.