Diderik Børsting Schnitler (born 23 October 1946) is a Norwegian businessperson. He hails from

Stabekk Stabekk is a suburban centre in the municipality of Bærum, Norway, west of Oslo. It is predominantly a residential area, with many residents commuting to Oslo. As of 2005 the population was 6,261. Bærum has the highest income per capita and the hi ...

, and in his younger days he was the treasurer and an active

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player for Stabekk TK. He graduated from the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970. He was hired as an engineer in Jarlsø Støperi in 1974, and was chief executive from 1976 to 1983. He was the chief executive officer of Kaldnes from 1983 to 1986 and EB Anker Sønnak from 1986 to 1989. In the 1980s he was a board member of

Larvik Jernstøperi Larvik () is a town and municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality of Larvik has about 46,364 inhabitants. The municipality has a 110 ...

, Vestfold Jernlager, EB Consultants and Scanmar and chair of

Sandefjord Airport Sandefjord Airport, Torp ( no, Sandefjord lufthavn, Torp; ) is an international airport located northeast of Sandefjord, Norway and south of Oslo. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for Ves ...

. He was elected leader of the Federation of Norwegian Manufacturing Industries in 1989. He left that position already in October 1989. After the

1989 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 10 and 11 September 1989.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1438 The Labour Party remained the largest party in the Storting, winning 63 of the 165 seat ...

Syse's Cabinet Syse's Cabinet was a minority centre-right Conservative, Centre, Christian Democrat Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Second cabinet Brundtland after the 1989 election, and sat between 16 October 1989 and 3 November 1990. It was repla ...

assumed office, and Schnitler was appointed State Secretary in the

Ministry of Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

. He belonged to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He lost that job in 1990 when Syse's Cabinet fell, but immediately became president of Kværner Shipbuilding and vice president of the

Kværner Group Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005. In 2004, it was amalgamated to the newly formed subsidiary of Aker ASA - Aker Kværner, which was renamed Aker Solutions on 3 April 2008 ...

. He also served as president of the

Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise ( no, Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO) is an employers' organisation in Norway with more than 30,000 members. It was founded in 1989 as a merger of the Federation of Norwegian Industries, the Norwegi ...

from 1994 to 1996. From 1998 to 2000 he was the CEO of

Saga Petroleum Saga Petroleum ASA was a Norwegian upstream petroleum company established in 1972 that was acquired by Norsk Hydro in 1999. In October 2007 it was made part of Statoil. The company was the only fully private oil company in Norway. It had partial ...

; he stepped down to become a professional board member. His period with Saga was disastrous for the company, after a series of unfavorable financial dispositions, and the company ceased to exist and was acquired by Norsk Hydro. Since 2002 he has chaired the board of the global shipping company

Wilh. Wilhelmsen Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWH) is a Norwegian multinational maritime industry, maritime group, headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. The group employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in 75 nations. The Wilhelmsen group operates the la ...

. In 2009 he became chair of Stabæk Holding. He is a fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences ( no, Norges Tekniske Vitenskapsakademi, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Aca ...

References

1946 births Living people People from Bærum Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Norwegian businesspeople People in the petroleum industry Norwegian state secretaries Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences {{norway-business-bio-stub