He represented the old districts 24A and 25A, which included portions of Dakota, Le Sueur, Rice and Scott counties in the southeastern part of the state.

in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1985 through a Bush Foundation Fellowship.

[1] Vanasek became Speaker in 1987, after the resignation of Fred Norton, who was appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals by Governor Rudy Perpich.

He served as Speaker until 1992, when he left the legislature to become executive director of the Minnesota High Technology Council, a private organization, until 1995.

[5] Vanasek was installed as the new honorary consul of the Czech Republic for the four-state area of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota on September 19, 2009, by Czech Ambassador Petr Kolar.