Olaf Christian Ditlev-Simonsen Jr. (2 January 1897 – 19 February 1978) was 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 ...

sailor, footballer, sports administrator and businessperson.

Early and personal life

He was born in

Dypvåg Dypvåg is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1960 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Tvedestrand which is in Agder county. The small mu ...

to ship-owner Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen (1865–1960) and Magdalena Pedersen (1873–1920). He had eight siblings. The family moved to

Kristiania 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 ...

in 1902, and he joined the family's company (John P. Pedersen & Søn) after finishing Kristiania Commerce School in 1917. He was a brother of John Ditlev-Simonsen and uncle to both Halfdan Ditlev-Simonsen Jr. and

Per Ditlev-Simonsen Per Ditlev-Simonsen (born 12 June 1932) is a Norwegian politician. He was the mayor of Oslo, representing the Conservative Party, from 1995 to 2007. He stepped down on 23 August 2007 following the Swiss bank-account scandal. Ditlev-Simonsen wa ...

. In 1920 he married Else Heyerdahl (1899–1985), and had Hieronymus Heyerdahl as a father-in-law. He died in January 1978 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 ...

Sports career

Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen practised different sports in the club

IF Ready Idrettsforeningen Ready is a sports club in Vestre Aker, Oslo, Norway. The club was established on June 14, 1907 by Aage Blom Lorentzen. The football club play their home games at Gressbanen in Oslo. Gressbanen was the arena for the Norway n ...

, and, partly together with his four brothers, he won several Norwegian championships in

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

. Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen's first national title came in 1913, and the last in 1927. He played two matches for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. He was also capped five times for the

Norway national football team The Norway national football team ( no, Norges herrelandslag i fotball, or informally ''Landslaget'') represents Norway in men's international football and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation, the governing body for football in ...

, the first in 1915. He also competed in yacht racing. At the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

he won the silver medal as crew member of the Norwegian boat ''Silja'' in the 8 metre event. He had taken his first King's Cup in Norway with that boat in 1930. He was a board member of the

Norwegian Tennis Federation 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 ...

from 1918 to 1919 and of the

Football Association of Norway The Norwegian Football Federation ( nb, Norges Fotballforbund, nn, Noregs Fotballforbund; NFF) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the league systems f ...

for four years, chaired IF Ready from 1923 to 1927 and the

Royal Norwegian Yacht Club The Royal Norwegian Yacht Club ( no, Kongelig Norsk Seilforening, KNS) is a yacht club in Oslo, Norway. The club was founded in 1883 as country-wide organisation with affiliated local yacht clubs. In 1884, it was granted the right for members ...

from 1947 to 1949. From 1948 to 1966 he was a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

, and he headed the organizational committee at the

1952 Winter Olympics The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 6. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 6. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Oslo 1952, was a winter multi-sport event held from 14 to 25 February 195 ...

. In the IOC he took over for Thomas Fearnley, following tradition since 1905 that Norway must have one IOC member at any time.

Shipping and the Second World War

In shipping, he started his own company in 1936. He was a board member of the

Norwegian Shipowners' Association The Norwegian Shipowners Association () is an employers' organization and interest group for Norwegian shipping and offshore companies. The organization's primary fields are national and international industry policies, employer issues, competenc ...

for some time, and during the Second World War he worked in Sweden, from 1943 as regional head of

Nortraship The Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) was established in London in April 1940 to administer the Norwegian merchant fleet outside German-controlled areas. Nortraship operated some 1,000 vessels and was the largest shipping company ...

. From 1945 to 1949 he chaired the supervisory council of

Det Norske Veritas DNV (formerly DNV GL) is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The company currently has about 12,000 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides ser ...

. Ditlev-Simonsen was amongst a number of prominent Norwegians arrested as hostages by the Germans during their

occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

. Following his arrest he was transferred to

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderma ...

on 13 January 1942 and given prisoner number 1274, being released on 21 September 1942. His brother John was also arrested and held as a hostage by the Germans. He was decorated with the King's Medal of Merit in gold in 1947 and was a Commander 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 ci ...

(1952), the

Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of Finland ( fi, Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Lejons orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty and the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The President o ...

, the

Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...

, the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

, the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

and the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

. He was a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ditlev-Simonsen, Olaf 1897 births 1978 deaths People from Arendal Sportspeople from Oslo Norwegian bandy players Norwegian male sailors (sport) Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Sailors at the 1936 Summer Olympics – 8 Metre Olympic sailors of Norway Olympic silver medalists for Norway Norwegian sports executives and administrators International Olympic Committee members Businesspeople from Oslo in shipping Nortraship people Norwegian expatriates in Sweden Commanders of the Order of the Lion of Finland Commanders of the Order of Vasa Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star Commanders of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the King's Medal of Merit in gold Olympic medalists in sailing Grini concentration camp survivors Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Association football forwards Businesspeople from Oslo