Terje Riis-Johansen (born 15 March 1968) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party who is serving as county mayor of

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. T ...

since 2020. Riis-Johansen was born in

Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...

. He was elected to the

Norwegian Parliament 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 base ...

from

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 ...

in 1993, but was not re-elected in 1997. From 1997 to 1999, during the

first cabinet Bondevik Bondevik's First Cabinet governed Norway between 17 October 1997 to 17 March 2000. It was led by Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, and consisted of the Christian Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party The Liberal Party is a ...

, he was appointed political advisor in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

. In 2005, during the

second cabinet Stoltenberg Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet was the Government of Norway from 17 October 2005 to 16 October 2013. It was a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. On 9 Septembe ...

, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Food, but changed department in 2008 and served as

Minister of Petroleum and Energy The Minister of Petroleum and Energy ( no, Olje- og energiministeren) is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The current minister is Terje Aasland. The ministry is responsible for the government's ene ...

. On 4 March 2011 he was succeeded by fellow Centre Party politician Ola Borten Moe. On the local level he was a member of

municipality council from 1991 to 1995. During the same term he was also a member of Telemark county council. After the 2011 Norwegian local elections the local centre-right alliance was dissolved, and Riis-Johansen became Telemark's county mayor of a new centre-left coalition. Riis-Johansen was a member of the board of

Nei til EU Nei til EU ( en, No to the EU) is the main Norwegian interest group opposing a future Norwegian accession to the European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic uni ...

from 1995 to 1997, of

Telemark University College Telemark University College (TUC, no, Høgskolen i Telemark, HiT) was, until its merger, the fourth largest university college in Norway. The University College had about 7000 students, split between four different locations in Bø, Notodden, Por ...

from 2000 to 2003 and of the Norwegian Farmers' Union from 2000 to 2005. As county mayor, Riis-Johansen has launched a programme to attract more foreign investment to Telemark county, Invest in Telemark.

References

* 1968 births Living people Politicians from Skien Centre Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Ministers of Agriculture and Food of Norway Petroleum and energy ministers of Norway Chairmen of County Councils of Norway 20th-century Norwegian politicians {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub