Salonen exposed horn, conducting and composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. a schoolfellow was the composer Magnus Lindberg and together they formed a experimental ensemble Toimii ("It works" in the Finnish language). Late, Salonen exposed by having a composers Franco Donatoni and Niccolò Castiglioni. Originally he dedicated himself to composing however around 1983 he undertook the performance of Mahler's third symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London at short notice, and it launched his career as a conductor. He was afterward main guest conductor of the Philharmonia from either 1985 to 1994.

Main conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra since 1985 and conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra since 1991, Salonen is renowned for his dedication to performing & recording contemporary music. His 1985 globe premiere recording of Witold Lutoslawski's Symphony No. 3 won the 1985 Gramophone Award for Best Contemporary Recording.

Among Salonen's compositions come ...auf den ersten blick und ohne zu wissen... (1980, the saxophone concerto with a title taken from either Franz Kafka's The Trial), Floof for soprano and ensemble (1982, on texts by Stanisław Lem) and a orchestral L.The. Variations (1996). Sequentially to devote additional period to composition, Salonen took a year's sabbatical leave from either conducting inside 2000, when you took which period he wrote the act for solo horn (Concert Étude, the competition piece for Lieksa Brass Week), a function for the violoncellist Anssi Karttunen & sinfonietta, & an orchestral piece.