Finn Kristensen (born 24 July 1936) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

electrician, trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He served as

Minister of Industry The industry minister is a cabinet position in a government. The title may refer to the head of the governmental department that specializes in industry. This position may also be responsible for trade and employment, areas that fall under the mi ...

in 1981, from 1986–1988 and from 1992-1993 and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1990-1992. He was also an MP for

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

from 1969 to 1985.

Early life

He was born in Brevik as a son of welder Bjarne Kornelius Kristensen (1912–1946) and cleaner Jenny Therese Eikefjord (1914–1989). He took a basic training as an electrician, beginning an apprenticeship in 1950. After four years of apprenticeship at Dalen Portland Cementfabrikk, he took one year at the Oslo School of Elementary Technics and learned strong current. He worked at sea for one year, and was then back at Dalen Portland from 1958 to 1962.

Political career

He started a political career in the municipal councils of

Eidanger Eidanger is a rural parish and former municipality of Porsgrunn, in Telemark County, Norway. History Eidanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was merged with Porsgrunn on 1 January 1964. The mai ...

and

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

from 1959 to 1971. In 1962 he was hired as an instructor in Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund, where he remained three years. During the same period he was a supervisory council member in the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions ( no, Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national union ...

. In 1965 he was hired as a county secretary for Telemark Labour Party. He was also elected as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Telemark in 1965, and was subsequently elected to four full terms in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

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 Democrat ...

and

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 ...

. In 1981 Kristensen served as

in the brief

Brundtland's First Cabinet Brundtland's First Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Labour Cabinet Nordli, and sat between 4 February and 14 October 1981. The cabinet was the first in Norwegian history to be led by a woman. It was replaced ...

. His parliamentary seat was filled by Dagfinn Øksenholt and Einfrid Halvorsen. When

Brundtland's Second Cabinet Brundtland's Second Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative Willoch's Second Cabinet, and sat between 9 May 1986 and 16 October 1989. It was replaced by the Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat cab ...

assumed office in 1986, Kristensen became Minister of Industry and served until the cabinet fell in 1989 (from 1988 the post was called Minister of Trade and Industry). When

assumed office in 1990, Kristensen became Minister of Petroleum and Energy. He also became head of the Ministry of Trade in September 1992, overseeing a merger with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to create the Ministry of Trade and Energy. Kristensen headed this ministry until October 1993. In between his governmental jobs, Kristensen was the director of T-invest in

Notodden Notodden () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Notodden. Notodden was separated from the munic ...

from 1985 to 1986, then a director in Statoil from 1989 to 1990. From 1994 to 2007 he led his own company, F.K. Bedriftsutvikling. He was also a senior adviser in

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...

until 1997. Kristensen chaired Telemark Labour Party from 1972 to 1977, and was a national board member of the Labour Party from 1977 to 1981. He was a deputy board member of the

Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority ( no, Arbeidstilsynet) is a Norwegian government agency under the Ministry of Labour. It is responsible for supervising the implementation of the Working Environment Act, the Annual Holidays Act, the Natio ...

from 1974 to 1979 and Næringsøkonomisk institutt in 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristensen, Finn 1936 births Living people Politicians from Porsgrunn Members of the Storting Politicians from Telemark Labour Party (Norway) politicians Government ministers of Norway Petroleum and energy ministers of Norway Equinor people 20th-century Norwegian politicians Ministers of Trade and Shipping of Norway