Olav Benum (5 September 1897 – 27 June 1990) was a Norwegian elected official and politician with the Liberal Party.

Biography

He was born at Beitstad in

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

, Norway. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from

in 1945, and was re-elected on three occasions. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1937–1945. Benum was deputy mayor of

Vemundvik Vemundvik is a village in Namsos municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the shore, about north of the Namsos (town), town of Namsos and about east of the village of Ramsvika, Trøndelag, Ramsvika. Vemundvik Ch ...

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 ...

in 1934–1937, and mayor in 1937–1941 and 1945. At the same time he was a member of Nord-Trøndelag

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

. He later became a member of Namsos city council during the terms 1963–1967 and 1967–1971. Again, during the same time he became involved in the county council. He served as deputy county mayor in 1963–1966 and county mayor in 1966–1967. Outside politics he worked as an agronomist. In the

Norwegian Agrarian Association The Norwegian Agrarian Association ( no, Norges Bondelag) is the largest Norwegian interest organization for farmers. It functions both as a labour union and as a trade union. It negotiates with the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union and ...

he was a member of the board from 1946 to 1953. From 1942 to 1945, during the

German 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 ...

, he fled to

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

and worked at the Norwegian legation there.

References

Other sources

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1897 births 1990 deaths People from Nord-Trøndelag Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Members of the Storting Liberal Party (Norway) politicians Mayors of places in Nord-Trøndelag Chairmen of County Councils of Norway 20th-century Norwegian politicians {{Norway-politician-1890s-stub