Olav Versto (31 July 1950 – 7 July 2011) was a Norwegian journalist and editor, primarily known for his work for the newspaper ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

''.

Education and career

Versto received a

cand.mag. Candidatus magisterii (male), or candidata magisterii (female), abbreviated as cand.mag., is an academic degree currently awarded in Denmark. The degree is officially translated into English as Master of Arts and currently requires 5 years of studi ...

degree from 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 ...

in 1976. He started his career in the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 1977, and was hired as a subeditor of ''

'', Norway's largest newspaper, in 1987. From 1994 to 2008 he was the political editor of ''Verdens Gang''. After that he became the editor of the

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...

section of the newspaper. Olav Versto hailed from Vinje, and was the grandson of Olav Aslakson Versto and son of Aslak Versto, both politicians. He was himself politically involved, and was a forceful activist for the failed campaign for Norwegian

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

membership in 1994. In his later years, Versto was involved in the debate over the conflict between

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and the West. In 2003, he went far towards supporting the US-led

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

, a controversial stance in Norway at the time. Versto was married to Kari Storsletten, journalist in the newspaper ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

''. The two were in 2007 ranked as number four among the most powerful media couples in Norway, by the online business newspaper ''

NA24 ''Næringslivsavisen NA24.no AS'' or ''NA24'' is a Norwegian online business newspaper. It was created on 22 March 2006 as a merger between the business sections of ''Nettavisen'', ''Fædrelandsvennen'', ''Stavanger Aftenblad'', ''Bergens Tidende'' ...

''.

Death

Versto was found dead in the harbour of Farsund on 7 July 2011. Police believe he may have slipped on the rain-soaked floor of his boat and fell into the water. Following his death, Versto was praised by several prominent figures, including Prime Minister

Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...

, former Prime Ministers

Gro Harlem Brundtland Gro Brundtland (; born Gro Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian politician (Arbeiderpartiet), who served three terms as the 29th prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–89, and 1990–96) and as the director-general of the World Health Organizati ...

, Kjell Magne Bondevik, Kåre Willoch and World War II veteran

Gunnar Sønsteby Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO ( 1918 – 10 May 2012) was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. Known by the nickname "Kjakan" ("The Chin") and as "Agent No. 24", ...

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Versto, Olav 1950 births 2011 deaths People from Vinje Norwegian newspaper editors University of Oslo alumni Accidental deaths in Norway Deaths by drowning in Norway