Per Ottar Sefland (born 27 January 1949) is a previous

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of Svalbard. He served from 1 October 2005 to 16 September 2009. Sefland was born in

Evje Evje is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1877 until 1960. It was located in what is now the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Evje og Hornnes in the Setesdal valley of Ag ...

, and his family later moved to Larvik. He married in 1972, and has two daughters. He is a lawyer by education ( cand.jur.,

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 ...

, 1975), and is a career

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules Rule or ruling may refer to: Education ...

civil servant. After studying he was a bureaucrat in the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

from 1975 to 1976, police superintendent in Sunnmøre from 1976 to 1979, deputy judge in

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

from 1979 to 1980 and chief superintendent in Nordmøre from 1980 to 1982. In 1982 he became acting chief of police of Vest-Finnmark, and in 1984 he became chief of police in

Nordmøre Nordmøre (English: North- Møre) is a traditional district in the Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. The area comprises the northern third of the county including the municipalities of Kristiansund, Averøy, Tingvoll, Surnadal, Aure, Halsa ...

. While serving in this position he had short leaves to serve in the Norwegian Prosecuting Authority and as Assisting County Governor of Møre og Romsdal. He also attended the

Nato Defence College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1997 and the Norwegian National Defence College in 1986. In 1997 he was hired as director of the Norwegian Police Surveillance Service, which was named the

Norwegian Police Security Service The Norwegian Police Security Service (, ) is the police security agency of Norway. The agency was previously known as ''POT'' (' or Police Surveillance Agency), the name change was decided by the Parliament of Norway on 2 June 2001. History a ...

in 2001. From 2003 to 2005 he worked as a chief of police without portfolio in the

National Police Directorate National Police Directorate ( no, Politidirektoratet) a government agency subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security which heads the Norwegian Police Service The Norwegian Police Service ( no, Politi- og lensmannsetaten) is t ...

, and in 2005 he became the new

Governor of Svalbard The governor of Svalbard ( no, Sysselmesteren på Svalbard) represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen). The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it mai ...

. He was preceded by

Odd Olsen Ingerø Odd Olsen Ingerø (born 22 September 1950) is a Norwegian civil servant and former Governor of Svalbard. He was born in Skjeberg. In 2005, he was appointed director of the National Criminal Investigation Service. He was the Governor of Svalbard ...

and immediately by acting governor

Sven Ole Fagernæs Sven Ole Fagernæs (born 12 March 1945) is a Norwegian jurist and civil servant who was Attorney General of Norway from 1993 to 2015. Sven Ole Fagernæs was born in Oslo and got a cand.jur. degree from the University of Oslo in 1972. He worked ...

.Previous Governors
, Svalbard Government website, retrieved October 24, 2007 He was succeeded by

, who then served a second term as governor.New Governor of Svalbard
, Svalbard Government website, retrieved October 30, 2009

References

1949 births Living people People from Evje og Hornnes University of Oslo alumni Norwegian police chiefs Directors of government agencies of Norway Governors of Svalbard {{Svalbard-bio-stub