Annika Olsen (born 13 March 1975, in

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

, grew up in

Vágur Vágur meaning ''Bay'' ( da, Våg) is a town on the island of Suðuroy, part of the Faroe Islands It is situated on the east coast of the island on the Vágsfjørður fjord, and was founded in the fourteenth century. Expansion has meant that the ...

) is a Faroese politician,

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

teacher and former swimmer. She was

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

and Minister of Social Affairs in the Faroe Islands (2011–15) and

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

from 2008 to 2011 representing the

People's Party (Faroe Islands) The Faroese People's Party – Radical Self-Government ( fo, Hin føroyski fólkaflokkurin – radikalt sjálvstýri) is a pro- Faroese independence conservative and conservative-liberal political party on the Faroe Islands led by Beinir Johann ...

. Before that she was a member of the City Council of Tórshavn from 2004 to 2008. Annika Olsen has an MA in

Nordic languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...

and literature with a supplementary subject in religion. She is the daughter of Jákup Olsen, a businessman, former politician and former headmaster of Vágur's School and Marna Olsen, born Holm, a retired teacher. At the general election 2015, the People's Party lost two seats in the Faroese parliament, they got 18.9% of the votes and 6 members. Annika Olsen got second most votes of the parties candidates. Eight days after the election, Olsen who had received 961 personal votes, left the People's Party, which means that the party lost one member and now has 5 parliament members. On 17 September she joined the Liberal party

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension w ...

, which is part of the governing coalition. She was subsequently elected as chairman of the Fiscal committee. Three days later, she regret her decision and left Progress and also said she would not be the chairman of the Fiscal committee. She needed some time alone with her family and took leave from the parliament. She asked the people who elected her to forgive her, she had had too little time to think before she joined another party. On 4 February 2016 she became a member of the People's Party again. On 11 November 2022, Annika Olsen has announced that she is leaving the People's Party due to policy disagreements and internal struggles. On 14 November 2022, it was announced that she is running in the general election as a member of Republic. She was elected to the parliament on the election with 335 personal votes.

Swimming career

Between 1988 and 1995 Annika Olsen was a member of the Faroese national swimming team. She attended the Island Games in 1991 and won a bronze medal in 200 m breast, bronze in 4x50 m free, bronze in 4 × 100 m free and silver in 8x50 m free. She also attended the Island Games 1989 in the Faroe Islands.islandgames.net, 1989

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Annika 1975 births Living people Deputy Prime Ministers of the Faroe Islands Members of the Løgting Ministers of Social Affairs of the Faroe Islands Ministers of Internal Affairs of the Faroe Islands Mayors of Tórshavn People's Party (Faroe Islands) politicians People from Vágur Faroese female swimmers Faroese sportsperson-politicians Women government ministers of the Faroe Islands 21st-century women politicians