Bjørn Erik Thon (born 6 February 1964) is a Norwegian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

Career

He graduated as cand.jur. in 1989. From 1999 to 2000, during the first cabinet Bondevik Thon worked as a political advisor in the Ministry of Justice and the Police. He has been a member of Grefsen-

Kjelsås Kjelsås, sometimes called Kjelsaas, is one of the northern neighbourhoods of Oslo situated in Nordre Aker, the northern borough of Oslo, Norway. History Together with Grefsen, Kjelsås was part of the borough ''Grefsen-Kjelsås'' until Ja ...

borough council for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. From 2000 to 2010, he headed the office of the Norwegian Consumer Ombudsman. His period was renewed in 2007. He succeeded Georg Apenes as director of the Norwegian Data Inspectorate in late May 2010, though his immediate predecessor was acting director Ove Skåra.

Ombudsman of Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination

On 19 November 2021, he was nominated to succeed Hanne Bjurstrøm as ombudsman of the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud. He became the first man to hold the position. He assumes office on 28 February 2022. In July 2022, Thon argued that the incident of a Russian woman not being granted a job interview due to her nationality, was a clear example of discrimination. He also emphasised that it was important to differentiate between the Russian state and individual Russian citizens. He was supported by lawyer Henriette Willix from Advokatfirmaet Sulland.

Writing

In 2000, he started his career as a writer with his crime novel ''Svart kappe''. He followed with the crime novels ''Den tause klienten'' in 2002 and ''Den enes død'' in 2004. In 2005 he wrote the consumer issues book ''Forbrukerjungelboka'' with Ola Fæhn.

References

1964 births Living people Norwegian jurists Directors of government agencies of Norway Norwegian crime fiction writers Norwegian non-fiction writers Ombudsmen in Norway Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo {{Norway-writer-stub