Annika was born in Kotka, in south-eastern Finland, and emigrated with her family to Sweden when she was young. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in set and costume design from Dramatiska Institutet 1997 and has since designed sets and costumes for over 80 theatre productions, mostly in Sweden but occasionally abroad. These productions range from children’s theatre to dance, new writing and classical works.

Working alongside director Dritëro Kasapi, artistic director at Riksteatern (The Swedish National Touring Theatre), she has designed over 20 productions including Pinoccio and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Uppsala Stadsteater, Hamlet at Örebro Länsteater and Othello and Dance of Death at Riksteatern, The God of Carnage at Teater I and Enron at Örebro Länsteater, the last two mentioned won the theatre critics prize for best production in the year they were produced. At Stockholm City Theatre they created The Suppliant Women, a co-production with Al-Harah Theatre in Beit Jala, West Bank.

Annika collaborates also with Anna Takanen and designed the widely celebrated Fosterlandet, a co-production involving Svenska Teatern in Helsinki and the Municipal Theatre of Gothenburg. Fosterlandet enjoyed successful runs in Gothenburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm.

Several of Annika productions have been selected to perform at the Swedish Performing Arts Biennale. These include Fair Game (Uppsala Stadsteater), Gymnopedie (Riksteatern) Medea’s Children (Unga Klara). Other productions have toured internationally, for example Dritëro Kasapi’s Riksteatern production Head On which toured to Volksbühne in Berlin and on to Istanbul.

For Amir Nazir Zuabi Annika designed Ravinen at Riksteatern and Sheltered Worlds at the Institute du Monde Arabe, Paris, October 2021, part of the project The Walk with Amal. Annika’s most recent works include the Riksteatern production of seven methods of killing kylie jenner where she worked with Millie Bhatia, associate director at London’s Royal Court Theatre.

During 2021–26, Annika will be attached to Folkteatern i Gävleborg, both as a resident set and costume designer and to direct the theatre’s efforts to become more sustainable. Annika has been a guest lecturer in production design at Södertorn University in Stockholm and at Göteborg University in Gothenburg. Annika completed a master’s degree in Sustainable Performing Arts at Stockholm University of the Arts 2021 where she presented her study, Climate: The Story of our Lives. Annika was chosen to participate in Julie´s Bicycles sustainability program Creative Climate Leadership, Sweden 2021-22 and was awarded the organization’s grant for further work in 2022.