Olaug Vervik Bollestad
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Olaug Vervik Bollestad (born 4 November 1961) is a Norwegian nurse and politician for the Christian Democratic Party who is a member of Parliament for
Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...
since 2013 and party leader since 2021, having been deputy leader from 2015 to 2021. She served as Minister of Agriculture and Food from 2019 to 2021.


Career


Early career

Educated as a nurse, she worked as department manager at
Stavanger University Hospital Stavanger University Hospital (Norwegian: ''Stavanger Universitetssjukehus'', SUS) is located in the neighborhood of Våland in Stavanger, Norway. Stavanger University Hospital is one of Norway's largest hospitals with more than 7500 employees. T ...
before she became mayor. She was elected to the
municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...
of Gjesdal in 2003.Olaug Vervik Bollestad
'' Kommunal Rapport''. Retrieved 23 September 2013


Mayor of Gjesdal

She served as mayor of Gjesdal from 2007 to 2013, when she 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 ...
in the
2013 Norwegian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 8 and 9 September 2013 to elect all 169 members of the unicameral Storting. The centre-right coalition obtained 96 seats, while the incumbent red–green coalition government obtained 72 seats and ...
where she was nominated in the first spot on the Christian Democratic Party's ballot for Rogaland. During her first tenure as mayor, she led a coalition with the Labour Party, Centre Party and Socialist Left Party. The Socialist Left Party dropped out of the coalition following the 2011 local elections, but Bollestad continued to lead a coalition with the Labour and Centre parties. Following her resignation to take her seat in Parliament, she was said to have been "disappointed" with the Labour Party taking over the mayorship in Gjesdal.


Party deputy leader

At the party convention in May 2015, she was elected the first deputy leader of the party. In September to November 2018, during the Christian Democratic path choice between a Labour or Conservative led cabinet choice, Bollestad co-led the faction who favoured to enter the Solberg cabinet, alongside
Kjell Ingolf Ropstad Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (born 1 June 1985) is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party, who served as the Minister of Children, Family and Church Affairs and the leader of the Christian Democratic Party from 2019 to 2021. He has bee ...
. It was widely unexpected that she would go against party leader
Knut Arild Hareide Knut Arild Hareide (born 23 November 1972) is a Norwegian politician who served as a member of parliament from Hordaland and as the leader of the Christian Democratic Party from 2011 to 2019. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications ...
's advice. The Solberg favouring faction ended up winning the most votes at the party special convention on 2 November 2018. After Hareide's resignation on 17 January 2019, Bollestad took over as acting leader until the party elected
Kjell Ingolf Ropstad Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (born 1 June 1985) is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party, who served as the Minister of Children, Family and Church Affairs and the leader of the Christian Democratic Party from 2019 to 2021. He has bee ...
as Hareide's successor at the party convention on 27 April. Following Ropstad's resignation on 18 September 2021, the party central board announced that he would step down on 24 September and Bollestad would become acting leader. In October 2021, Bollestad presented her candidacy for party leader. Her only other liable opponent for the position,
Dag Inge Ulstein Dag Inge Ulstein (born 4 December 1980) is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party. Ulstein was appointed Minister of International Development in Solberg's Cabinet on 22 January 2019, a position which he held until the cabine ...
, withdrew, thereby making Bollestad the presumptive new leader to succeed Kjell Ingolf Ropstad. The Christian Democratic election committee designated Bollestad as the new party leader on 1 November.


Minister of Agriculture and Food

Following the party's negations to enter the Solberg cabinet, she was appointed minister of agriculture and food on 22 January 2019. In May, Bollestad accepted the resignation of Harald Gjein, the director of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority following revelations that the Authority had conducted a supervisory case against a fur farmer in
Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...
, where they had prepared an incorrect report. Bollestad said she had taken his resignation into consideration and thanked him for his service. She further said that: "We depend on the Food Safety Authority having a good reputation, that it has the trust of farmers, food producers, us consumers and the public sector". The Centre Party's
Geir Pollestad Geir Pollestad (born 13 August 1978) is a Norwegian solicitor and politician for the Centre Party. He is currently serving as the minister of agriculture and food since 2023, and has been a member of parliament for Rogaland since 2013. Early li ...
, called on Bollestad to give an explanation to the
Storting 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 ...
about the situation. In July, Bollestad stated that the farmers feel the impact of climate change on the bottom line. She further said: "It is very important that we are as self-sufficient as possible, and the differences between the grain crops last year and this year show how weather dependent we are. The crops are not only about politics, but also about Our Lord giving us good weather". She expressed frustration over local politicians who wanted to downsize agricultural land. To
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 ...
in July 2020, she said: "It is important for municipal politicians that they do not demolish the cultivated land. If we are to increase the self-sufficiency of vegetables, they must not do so". In November, following concerns expressed by Socialist Left's
Arne Nævra Arne Nævra (born 7 December 1953) is a Norwegian photographer and politician. Biography Nævra was born in Øvre Eiker. He was elected representative to the Storting from Buskerud for the period 2017–2021 for the Socialist Left Party. ...
that Norway also should kill minks like Denmark, Bollestad responded by saying that the situation was completely under control, and added that Norway had fewer minks then Denmark, also spread over farms in a different way. In December, after getting her hunting license, Bollestad visited the Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers in
Drøbak Drøbak is a List of cities in Norway, town and the centre of the municipality of Frogn, in Viken county, Norway. The city is located along the Oslofjord, and has 13,409 inhabitants. History Drøbak and Frogn was established as a parish on its o ...
to mark their 150th anniversary. She also joined them to hunt deer. In January 2021, Bollestad reassured that there were sufficient amount of food and no shortage of it after hearing people continued to hoard shops. She said that: "If we start emptying the shelves, there will be a larger movement of people. If we can keep our ears open, we will distribute this to everyone". She went on to add that people should rest assured that there are large storages of food, and that shops and pharmacies upheld their normal opening hours. At a press conference following
Kjell Ingolf Ropstad Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (born 1 June 1985) is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party, who served as the Minister of Children, Family and Church Affairs and the leader of the Christian Democratic Party from 2019 to 2021. He has bee ...
's announced resignation on 18 September 2021, Erna Solberg said that Bollestad would be appointed to succeed him on Monday, 20 September.


Party leader

Bollestad was formally elected party leader at the party convention on 13 November, with Ulstein as first deputy and Ingelin Noresjø continuing as second deputy. On 7 December, following the government’s announcement of new COVID-19 measures, Bollestad emphasised that she understood that people were confused, saying: "I understand well if the population is confused by this. Last week, the government said we should go to
julebord Julebord (Danish: ''julefrokost'', Norwegian: ''julebord'' or ''jolebord'', Swedish: ''julbord'') is a Scandinavian feast or banquet during the Christmas season where traditional Christmas food and alcoholic beverages are served. Originally, ...
. Now there is a limit of 10 pieces at home. Are we now seeing the results of an unprepared government coming too late?" She went on to say: "It is good that there are measures now, but there should have been measures earlier so that we could have avoided such intrusive measures". In May 2022, she caused controversy when she proposed in an internal letter that the party's organisation should be centralised in order to become more appealing in future elections. Her proposal included centralising the party's respective county leaders and for it to be replaced by a singular "organisation leader" in Oslo, together with 11-13 "organisation developers". Several county chapters viewed the proposed plan negatively, noting that the party would lose touch with locals and municipalities without a local chapter. In August, after the opposition gained a majority to order the government to find solutions to the electricity costs, Bollestad called for a halt to export of electricity, saying: "This has gone way too far. The Christian Democrats wants exports to stop until we have filled up the water reservoirs to a safe level. Now we must do what we can to prevent the electricity bill from reaching new records this winter".


Personal life

She married Jan Frode Bollestad in 1986. She is also a member of the Norwegian Baptist Union.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bollestad, Olaug 1961 births Living people People from Gjesdal Christian Democratic Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Mayors of places in Rogaland Norwegian nurses Norwegian Baptists Women members of the Storting 21st-century Norwegian politicians 21st-century Norwegian women politicians Women mayors of places in Norway Ministers of Agriculture and Food of Norway