Lauri Hakola started for the Puijon Hiihtoseura club . The student from Kuopio made his debut in the World Cup in his hometown in March 1998. In the following years he was only used very sporadically in a very strong Finnish team - mostly in Kuopio. In his seventh appearance at the beginning of the 2006/07 season in Kuusamo , he was among the top 10 in a World Cup competition for the first time (10th place). He ended his active career before the 2007/08 season.
Before the start of the 2018/19 season , Hakola, who was previously assistant coach, succeeded Andreas Mitter as the new Finnish head coach. He was given a two-year contract with the option to extend for a further two years.