Knut Vollebæk (born 11 February 1946 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 ...

) is a former Norwegian diplomat to the United States, (2001–2007, and centrist politician ( Norwegian Christian Democratic Party). He is currently a member of the

International Commission on Missing Persons The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is an intergovernmental organization that addresses the issue of persons missing as a result of armed conflicts, violations of human rights, and natural disasters. It is headquartered in The Ha ...

Board of Commissioners and heads a government commission investigating the situation of Norwegian Travellers.

Education

He was educated at the

Norwegian School of Economics The Norwegian School of Economics ( no, Norges Handelshøyskole) or NHH is a business school situated in Bergen, Norway. It was founded in 1936 as Norway's first business school and is a leading teaching and research institution in the fields of ...

. He also attended the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

and the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, as well as completing studies in the French language and culture at

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut Catholiq ...

and in the Spanish language and culture at the

Universidad Complutense The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

of Madrid.

Career

In September 2013, he was elected to the Board of Commissioners of the

(ICMP). Vollebæk was the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

High Commissioner on National Minorities Created on July 8, 1992 by the Helsinki Summit Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), now known as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) ...

from 2007 until 2013. Prior to that, Vollebæk served as

Ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Notes {{reflist, 30em External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...

between 2001 and 2007 and as Foreign Minister of Norway from 1997 to 2000. He was chairman-in-Office of the

in 1999. Vollebæk's diplomatic career includes assignments to New Delhi,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

. He was Norwegian Ambassador to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in 1991–1993 and Assistant Secretary General at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1994 until he became Foreign Minister in 1997. He served as Deputy Co-Chairman of the

International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia The Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia (commonly known as Badinter Arbitration Committee) was an arbitration body set up by the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community (EEC) on 27 August 1991 to provide the conf ...

in 1993. He was appointed Primus inter pares of the Panel of Eminent Persons on Strengthening the Effectiveness of the

in 2005. He was Chairman of the

Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: Regional Identity, Safe & Secure Region and Sustainable & Prosperous Region. These three priority areas aim to address ...

in 1999–2000 and Chairman of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in 1997–1998. Between October 1989 and November 1990, he was the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vollebaek, Knut Ambassadors of Norway to Costa Rica Ambassadors of Norway to the United States Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Foreign Ministers of Norway Norwegian School of Economics alumni Living people 1946 births University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class Politicians from Oslo