Olav Liestøl (24 February 1916 – 3 April 2002) was a Norwegian glaciologist. He was born in Kristiania as a son of folklorist and politician

Knut Liestøl Knut Liestøl (13 November 1881 – 26 June 1952) was a Norwegian folklorist, Nynorsk proponent and politician. He was born in Åseral as a son of farmers Olav Knutson Liestøl (1855–1944) and Sigrid Røynelid (1856–1950). He was a nephe ...

, but grew up in Blommenholm. He was a member of Milorg during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, and took the cand.real. degree at the University of Oslo in 1945. From 1948 to his retirement in 1986 he worked as a glaciologist at the

Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; no, Norsk Polarinstitutt) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Min ...

, and was described as "Norway's most recognized glaciologist". He mainly studied the geology of

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

, but also Antarctica and elsewhere. From 1985 he was also an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

at the University of Oslo. He resided at Blommenholm. He died in April 2002.

Legacy

The glacier of

Liestølbreen Liestølbreen is a glacier complex in Torell Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after Norwegian glaciologist Olav Liestøl. The glacier is situated between the mountains of Arrheniusfjellet and Wijkberget. The glaciers of Krøkjebreen and ...

Torell Land Torell Land is a land area at the southeast part of Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is named after Otto Martin Torell. Two glaciers, Hornbreen and Hambergbreen, divide Torell Land from Sørkapp Land. Torell Land is included in the Sør-Spitsbergen Nati ...

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norw ...

is named after him.

References

1916 births 2002 deaths People from Bærum University of Oslo alumni Quaternary geologists Norwegian glaciologists 20th-century Norwegian geologists Norwegian resistance members {{Glaciologist-stub