Rune Bech (born 26 June 1966, in Denmark) is a Danish digital entrepreneur, and a former foreign correspondent, broadcast journalist and television executive. In 1998 he was one of the early internet pioneers in Europe when he co-founded the independent health information portal NetDoctor.com. Later, after six years as digital head for Denmark's national broadcaster TV 2 he co-founded the healthtech company Liva Healthcare working with NHS England since 2017. As a non-profit passion project in 2010 he reopened Copenhagen's historic jazz venue, Jazzhus Montmartre staging 150+ concerts a year.

Career

After an early career as a foreign correspondent for the Danish newspaper Politiken from 1989 until 1997 (Eastern Europe and London), and as a foreign affairs reporter with the national Danish broadcaster TV 2 until 1998, he co-founded the independent health information portal NetDoctor.com in 1998 and took it from a Danish start-up into being a digital publisher of health information across Britain, Germany,

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and other European countries. Later, in 2001, he re-joined TV 2 as Chief Digital Officer for six years. In this position on December 6 2004 his team launched the TV and film on-demand services, TV 2 Sputnik, later renamed TV 2 Play. After co-founding two other healthtech companies E-Doktor (2002-2008) and SundhedsDoktor (2006-2016), he co-founded Liva Healthcare in 2015, specialising in digital lifestyle related chronic condition management, with offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. In 2017, NHS England selected Liva Health as a preferred digital innovation partner in trying to prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

(The "Healthier You" Digital Diabetes Prevention Programme, DDPP).

Passion

As a passion project beginning in May 2010, Rune Bech initiated the re-opening of Copenhagen's historic

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

venue, Jazzhus Montmartre. The place has a story going back to 1959 when it put Copenhagen on the world map of jazz by attracting some of the best artists of the time. Several famous jazz musicians fell in love with the place and relocated to Copenhagen in the 1960s and 1970s. Among them Dexter Gordon,

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor Saxophone, saxophonist. He performed in the United States and Europe and made many recordings with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, a ...

, Stan Getz, Kenny Drew, and many more. Using Jazzhus Montmartre as their hub, they served as mentors for major Danish jazz artists such as Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Palle Mikkelborg, Bo Stief, Alex Riel and many more.

Personal life

Rune Bech is the son of deputy headmaster Thomas Bech Pedersen (b 1920) and pre-school teacher Anne Margrethe Nygaard Pedersen (b 1931). He grew up as the youngest of four children at a hobby farm near the village of Køng on the Danish island of

Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

. He has two sons Bjarke Bech (born 1993) og Mathæus Bech (born 1995). Rune Bech is a keen sailor, an arts lover and a writer.Portrait of Rune Bech – Berlingske 2016
read 14 April 2024

References

External links

Kraks Blå Bog (Who is Who), Copenhagen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bech, Rune 1966 births Living people 20th-century Danish journalists Alumni of the University of Sussex Danish foreign correspondents Danish television journalists Politiken people Mass media people from London Businesspeople from Copenhagen People from Svendborg Danish expatriates in the United Kingdom Chief digital officers