Fred. Olsen & Co. is a holding company based in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The company was founded as a shipping firm by

Petter Olsen Petter Halfdan Rudolf Fredrik Olsen (born 7 February 1948) is a Norwegian businessman, billionaire and member of the Olsen shipping family, who own Fred. Olsen & Co. He is the younger brother of the current leader of the company, Fredrik Olsen. P ...

in 1848. Today the company manages the Olsen family's interests in a variety of sectors including logistics, energy and consumer goods.

History

The company was founded by Petter Olsen (1821–1899) in 1848 and, by his death, the company had 16

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s with offices in

Hvitsten Hvitsten is a former town in Akershus county, Norway, located between Drøbak and Son. It is the smallest town that has ever existed in Norway: In 1951 it had 76 inhabitants, and an area of just 0.07 km2. Due its size it could not be establi ...

. Petter's son Thomas Fredrik "Fred" Olsen (1857–1933) or Fred. Olsen, whom the company is named after, took the company from a small business with a few

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

s into a powerful multinational shipping and

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

business. He had a vision of providing high-quality service on a network of lines, at first domestically and, afterwards, internationally. To do this required

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

s, of which the first was acquired in 1897. By 1914, the first

motor ship A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V. Engines for motorships were developed during the 1890s, and by t ...

was put in use on the

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

line. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

23 of the company's 44 ships sank. After the first Fred. Olsen's death, his sons

Rudolf Olsen Rudolf Fredrik Olsen (29 September 1882 – 26 January 1951) was a Norwegian shipping magnate and Chairman of Fred. Olsen & Co. Biography Rudolf Fredrik Olsen was born in Hvitsten, in Akershus county, Norway. He was the son of Thomas Frederi ...

and

Thomas Fredrik Olsen Thomas Fredrik Olsen (1897–1969) was a Norway, Norwegian ship-owner. Son of Thomas Fredrik Olsen (born 1857), Fredrik Olsen and born in Hvitsten, he worked in the family company Fred. Olsen & Co. from 1920. He held a board position in a range of ...

took over the company. During their leadership, the company expanded, even entering the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

business with its own airline Fred. Olsen Flyselskap in addition to later partial ownerships of Det Norske Luftfartselskap,

Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 d ...

, and

Sterling Airlines Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airlin ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the company's ships were in

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

service, though 28 were lost – about half the fleet. Rudolf died in 1951 and Thomas suffered ill health from 1955, eventually dying in 1969. Thomas's son, also named

Fred. Olsen Fred. Olsen & Co. is a holding company based in Oslo, Norway. The company was founded as a shipping firm by Petter Olsen in 1848. Today the company manages the Olsen family's interests in a variety of sectors including logistics, energy and consum ...

(born 1 January 1929), is now in control of the company, after becoming director in 1955. In the early 1970s, Fred. Olsen entered the offshore business, with

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill wat ...

s and part 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 ...

. The Saga shares were sold in 1991 while Dolphin is now part of Fred. Olsen Energy. Fred. Olsen also had a major share in the

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

and

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

company

Aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...

and currently owns

Timex Corporation Timex Group USA, Inc. (formerly known as Timex Corporation) is an American global watch manufacturing company founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company became insolvent but was reformed into ...

. The company has also periodically entered the tanking business, operating a total of 40 ships since 1920. In 1973, it sold its tanking interests but reentered the industry again in 1986, creating the publicly listed company

First Olsen Tankers First Olsen Ltd, until 2005 known as First Olsen Tankers, is a Norwegian shipping company owned by Ganger Rolf ASA and Bonheur and affiliated with Fred. Olsen & Co. The company is registered in Bermuda and headquartered in Oslo. The company was es ...

in 1993 that was repurchased in 1999. Fred. Olsen Renewables has been involved in

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

since 1997 with wind farms in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In 1980, it was involved in

Nimslo The Nimslo is a stereo camera with a brightfield viewfinder that produces 3D pictures that can be viewed without glasses. This is done using lenticular printing. It uses common 35 mm film in 135 film format cartridges. It was produced in the 19 ...

, a company making 3D cameras, which later went bankrupt. Fred. Olsen is today owned by

Anette S. Olsen Anette Sofie Olsen (born 24 September 1956) is a Norwegian businesswoman. She holds siv.øk. and Master of Business Administration degrees. She is the sole proprietor of the shipping conglomerate Fred. Olsen & Co. and through this the controll ...

, the fifth generation of the family and daughter of Fred. Olsen. She took over ownership of Fred. Olsen & Co. in 1995 and has since been CEO, though Fred. Olsen has remained Chairman. At the end of 2008, Fred. Olsen sold its part of

Comarit Comarit (Compagnie Maritime Maroco-Norvegiènne) was a Moroccan ferry operator. Comarit operated a freight and passenger ferry service between Morocco and Spain, France and Italy from 1984 to 2012. It was based in Tangier, one of the main points o ...

and is no longer a stockholder of the Moroccan passenger carrier.

Companies in the Fred. Olsen Group

* Bonheur *

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK-based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf and is headquartered in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom. The company is part of the F ...

* Fred. Olsen Energy *

Fred. Olsen Express Fred. Olsen Express is an inter-island ferry service based in the Canary Islands, Spain. It operates a fleet of six modern fast ferries on five routes. Its fleet includes a trimaran fast ferry, the Benchijigua Express, which was the first such ve ...

(former Lineas Fred. Olsen) * Fred. Olsen Freight * Fred. Olsen Marine Services * Fred. Olsen Windcarrier * Fred. Olsen Production * Fred. Olsen Renewables * Fred. Olsen Travel * Ganger Rolf * GenoMar * Global Wind Service *

IT Fornebu It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * '' It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * ''It!'' (1967 ...

(minority ownership) *

Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende DN Media Group AS (previously NHST Media Group AS and before that Norges Handels og Sjøfartstidende AS) is a Norwegian media conglomerate that publishes a number of newspapers and online tools. The company dates back to 1889 when it started the p ...

(minority ownership) * Oceanlink * Timex * The Natural Power Consultants * ZephIR

References

* * * *

External links

FredOlsen.co.uk
in English
Olsen Spanish interests
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fred. Olsen and Co. Conglomerate companies of Norway Shipping companies of Norway Holding companies of Norway Transport companies established in 1848 Norwegian brands Norwegian companies established in 1848 1848 establishments in Norway