Petter Johan Thomassen (17 April 1941 – 8 October 2003) was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party.

Early years

He was born in

Salangen Salangen is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sjøvegan, where most of the people in the municipality live. Other villages include Elvenes, Laberg, and Seljesko ...

as a son of farmers Karl Thomassen (1905–1978) and Johanna, née Grimstad (1914–1996). He finished his secondary education in Trondheim in 1960, and took the siv.øk. degree in Copenhagen in 1963. He was the manager of Nordlandsdata in

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

from 1965 to 1976.

Career

He was a member of

municipal council from 1967 to 1975. He was also a member of

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county council. From 1976 to 1977 he was chairman (''fylkesrådsleder'') of

's county cabinet. In his party he was a central board member of the Norwegian Young Conservatives from 1969 to 1971, and central board member of the Conservative Party from 1976 to 1990. From 1988 to 1990 he was the second deputy leader of his party. He was elected to the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

from

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

, and was re-elected on four occasions; in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. He chaired one Standing Committee during his time, the

Standing Committee on Finance The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (SCOF) is a department related standing committee (DRSC) constituted by the Parliament of India comprising selected members of parliament for the purpose of legislative oversight on the policies and ...

from 1983 to 1985. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1969–1973. From 1985 to 1986, while

Willoch's Second Cabinet Willoch's Second Cabinet was a majority government, majority, Centre-right politics, centre-right government consisting of the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative, Centre Party (Norway), Centre, Christian Democratic Party (Norway), Christia ...

held office, Thomassen served as the Minister of Industry. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by

Harry Danielsen Harry Danielsen (14 September 1936 – 12 May 2011) was a Norwegian educator and politician for the Conservative Party, later independent. He was born Rødøy as a son of a fisherman. After commerce school and military education he worked as ...

. From 1989 to 1990 Thomassen served as

Minister of Trade A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial polic ...

Syse's Cabinet Syse's Cabinet was a minority centre-right Conservative, Centre, Christian Democrat Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Second cabinet Brundtland after the 1989 election, and sat between 16 October 1989 and 3 November 1990. It was repla ...

. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by Steinar Høgaas. He chaired Nordland District College (1976 to 1978), Dataringen (1971 to 1973, board member 1968 to 1976), Nordlandsforskning (1980 to 1985, 1986 to 1988), Polarsirkelsenteret (1988 to 1990), Norsk Luftfartssenter (1994 to 1998), Polar Park (1994 to 2001),

Bodø Energi Bodø Energi is a power company An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electri ...

(1996 to 2003), Nordland Teater (1999 to 2003) and

Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (SNSK), or simply Store Norske, is a Norwegian coal mining company based on the Svalbard archipelago. It was formed in 1916, after a Norwegian purchase of the American Arctic Coal Company (ACC). The company ha ...

(2003). He was a board member of ''Norske datasentralers landsforbund'' (1972 to 1974) and the Norwegian Electricity Industry Association (1998 to 2003). He authored numerous books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomassen, Petter Johan 1941 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Bodø Businesspeople in computing Nordland politicians Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Government ministers of Norway Norwegian non-fiction writers 20th-century Norwegian politicians 20th-century non-fiction writers People from Salangen Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway