Lauri Harjola was born in Riihimaki, Finland, on 15th March, 1959. He began his career making documentaries and the feature film, Huostaanotto (1980) in Finland before moving to the United States in 1985.

Changing his name to Renny Harlin he directed a series of films including Born American (1986), The Dream Master (1988), Die Hard 2 (1990), Die Harder (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) and the Deep Blue Sea (1999).