Career
He qualified as a lawyer and was registered as Raphael Nii Amaa Ollennu in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1940. He later became a judge. He has also published books on various legal topics and is an authority on traditional African land-tenure system.
Nii Amaa Ollennu was one of the Accra representatives in the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly during the early 1950s.
Ollennu was thus in opposition alongside Busia and Danquah to Nkrumah"s Convention People"s Party. During the second republic, Ollennu was the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana from October 1969 to January 1972.
He also became the acting president of Ghana on 7 August 1970. He was officially the chairman of the Presidential Commission.
He took over from the previous military leader, Lieutenant
General Afrifa and handed over on 31 August 1970 to Edward Akufo-Addo who was elected on 31 August 1970 by an electoral college. He polled 123 votes to 35 by Edward Asafu Adjaye.
This was a ceremonial presidency as executive power was held by the prime minister, Doctor Busia.
Nii Amaa Ollennu was married to a sister of Doctor Busia the prime minister. During the second republic of Ghana, Ollennu served as Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana. He died in 1986.