Jan Martin Larsen (born 27 October 1938) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

orienteer Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

and politician.

Biography

He graduated from the

Norwegian College of Agriculture The Norwegian University of Life Sciences ( no, Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located at Ås in Viken, near Oslo, and at Adamstuen in Oslo and has around 5,200 stude ...

in 1963, and in his early career he worked in Fjellanger-Widerøe and the

Norwegian Ministry of the Environment The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment (Norwegian: Klima- og miljødepartementet) is a Norwegian ministry established on May 8, 1972. The Ministry of Climate and Environment has a particular responsibility for carrying out the clim ...

. From 1986 to 1989 he was the director of mapping in the

Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority The Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA) ( no, Statens kartverk or Kartverket) is Norway's national mapping agency, dealing with land surveying, geodesy, hydrographic surveying, cadastre and cartography. The current director is Johnny Welle. Its ...

. He was also president of the Norwegian Association for Cartography, Geodesy, Hydrography and Photogrammetry from 1969 to 1975. He owed his interest for cartography to his background in the orienteering sport. He was a board member of the

Norges Orienteringsforbund The Norwegian Orienteering Federation ( no, Norges Orienteringsforbund, NOF) is the national Orienteering Association in Norway. It is recognized as the orienteering association for Norway by the International Orienteering Federation, of which ...

(NOF) from 1961 to 1975, and chaired the organization for four years. He was a pioneer in the development of the specialized

orienteering map An orienteering map is a map specially prepared for use in orienteering events. It is a large-scale topographic map with extra markings to help the participant navigate through the course. These maps are much more detailed than general-purpose top ...

, including international cooperation. He chaired NOF's first mapping committee, which was established in 1961. This committee published a normative book, which was used as a basis for mapping courses. He was employed by NOF as a specialized consultant on mapping in 1963. The

International Orienteering Federation The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is the international governing body of the sport of orienteering. The IOF head office is located in Karlstad, Sweden. The IOF governs four orienteering disciplines: foot orienteering, mountain bike ...

(IOF) was founded in 1961, and the first international mapping committee was established in 1965, chaired by Larsen, the other members being Ernst Spiess from

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and Christer Palm from

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 ...

. The IOF committee drafted a mapping standard in 1965, which lasted until it was replaced by a new standard in 1975. Larsen was also a member of

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greate ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

from 1995 to 2007, representing the local

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

party ''Askers Grønne Venner''. He has chaired the local history association, and has written a number of books on local history. In 2002 he was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Jan Martin Norwegian cartographers Norwegian orienteers Male orienteers Norwegian environmentalists Asker politicians Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Orienteering innovators Orienteering in Norway 1938 births Living people 20th-century Norwegian people 21st-century Norwegian people