Aulis Heikki Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer.

He attended the Sibelius Academy of Music and studied with a number of teachers such as Aarre Merikanto and Joonas Kokkonen.

Sallinen was appointed as the general manager of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1960 and held the position until 1969.

[8] Though he was a known teacher and was on many boards of directors, his compositions were not particularly noted until 1976, when he was made "Artist Professor" by the Finnish government, allowing him to concentrate on composing.

He has received a number of commissions and has composed eight symphonies, including one using material from a proposed ballet based on The Lord of the Rings[10] and containing two mediaeval Finnish tunes from the Piae Cantiones.