Kari Gjesteby (born 16 May 1947) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has never been a member of the Norwegian Parliament, but has been State Secretary for three tenures, as well as

Minister of Trade and Shipping The minister of trade and shipping () was a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Trade and Shipping. The position was created on 6 December 1947 when the position of minister of trade and industry was split into a portfolio ...

from February to October 1981 and Minister of Justice and the Police from 1990 to 1992. After her political career she has been a director in the

Bank of Norway Norges Bank (, , ) is the central bank of Norway. It is responsible for managing the Government Pension Fund of Norway, which is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, as well as the bank's own foreign exchange reserves. History The histor ...

, director of the

National Library of Norway The National Library of Norway () was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened in 2005. Prior to the e ...

and the

Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille The Norwegian Library of Talking Books and Braille (, NLB) is a public library organization based in Oslo, Norway. It produces and loans out audiobooks and braille books. Its services are aimed at people who have difficulty reading printed texts ...

and, from 2009 to 2013, the first female

State Conciliator of Norway The National Mediator of Norway (, until 2012 ''Riksmeklingsmannen'') is a mediator's office of Norway. It is invoked in labour disputes, in other words when creation or revision of collective agreement, tariff agreements is disagreed upon. It was ...

Career

Early career

She was born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

as a daughter of politician Omar Gjesteby and Ingrid Elisabeth Thoresen. Odd Gjesteby (deceased) and Arne Gjesteby (deceased) are her brothers. She enrolled in primary school in

Bjølsen Bjølsen is a neighbourhood in the Sagene borough in central-northern Oslo, Norway. Originally a farm in the former Aker municipality, it was incorporated into Christiania (now Oslo) in 1878. It has been sawmill and mill operation as far back a ...

in 1953, and finished secondary school at

Oslo Commerce School Oslo Commerce School ( Norw. ''Oslo Handelsgymnasium'') is a full-time public school in Oslo, Norway, specialising in the teaching of financial and business management. The school was founded in 1875 as Christiania Commerce School ( Norw. ''Chri ...

in 1965. From 1967 to 1970 she studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at the

Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration The Norwegian School of Economics () or NHH is a business school situated in Bergen, Norway. It was founded in 1936 as Norway's first business school and is the leading teaching and research institution in Norway for the fields of management and ...

. She also worked in Landsbanken from 1966 to 1967 and

Universitetsforlaget Universitetsforlaget AS (English: "The University Press"), also known in English as Scandinavian University Press, is a Norway, Norwegian academic publishing company, which publishes non-fiction literature and scholarly journal, journals mainly ...

from 1967 to 1972. She had become involved in the Workers' Youth League in her teens, chaired the secondary school branch from 1964 and was a secretary from 1966. She was a board member of the local Labour Party chapter from 1964 to 1966 and 1974 to 1975.

Political career

From 1972 she was a consulent in the Ministry of Local Government and Labour. She left in 1974 to become political secretary (today known as political advisor) in the Ministry of Government Administration and Consumer Affairs. In January 1976 she was promoted to State Secretary in the Ministry of Church and Education. She left in January 1978, but returned in October 1979 as State Secretary in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. On 4 February 1981 she was promoted to

in the so-called " female government" of

Gro Harlem Brundtland Gro Brundtland (; née Harlem, 20 April 1939) is a Norwegian politician in the Labour Party, who served three terms as the prime minister of Norway (1981, 1986–1989, and 1990–1996), as the leader of her party from 1981 to 1992, and as the d ...

. This cabinet only lasted until October 1981. From 1981 to 1982 she was a secretary for the parliamentary group and the now-minority leader Gro Harlem Brundtland. When the

second cabinet Brundtland 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 cabine ...

assumed office in May 1986, Gjesteby was State Secretary in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. She left in May 1988. In the first two years of the

third cabinet Brundtland Brundtland's Third Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the H- Sp- KrF Cabinet Syse, and sat between 3 November 1990 and 25 October 1996.Minister of Justice and the Police.

Later career

In between her spells as a full-time politician, she worked for the

Nordic Council of Ministers The Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental forum established after the Helsinki Treaty. The purpose of the Nordic Council of Ministers is to complement the Nordic Council and promote Nordic cooperation. Structure The governm ...

from 1978 to 1979 and 1983 to 1986. In 1990, she was hired as director in the

. She was given absence of leave to be director of the

from 2002 to 2004 and the

from 2005 to 2006. In 2009, she was appointed the

, as the first woman to hold the position. She was a board member of the Bank of Norway (1983–1989) and the

Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also becam ...

(1988–1990, 1992–1996), the last four years as deputy chair. She was a board member of Oslo arbeidersamfunn (1973–1975, 1983–1984), Horten Verft (1974–1983, 1974–1983), Elcon Leasing (1978–1979), Statens driftssentral for administrative databehandling (1978–1979), Oslo Lysverker (1988–1990),

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

(1990) SAS Norway (1997–2001), Mint of Norway (2001-2003), HAV Eiendom (2003–present),

Statskonsult Statskonsult AS is a defunct Norwegian government-owned company that provided management consulting services related to government restructuring and reform. It was created in 1947 as the Rationalisation Office (), later the Directorate of Ration ...

(2003–present),

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the ...

Veidekke Veidekke () is the largest Norwegian construction and civil engineering company and the fourth largest in Scandinavia. Veidekke's business involves a network of Scandinavia construction and engineering operations, rehabilitation work, major hea ...

(2004–present), White Buses Foundation (2007–present). She was the deputy chair of the

Guarantee Institute for Export Credits The Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (, GIEK) is a public-sector enterprise that reports to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (MTIF). GIEK promotes Norwegian exports by issuing guarantees on behalf of the state. The guarantees h ...

(1993–1995), and chaired the board of directors of the Cancer Registry of Norway (1988–1990), Kommunenes filmsentral (1994–1995), Asplan Viak (1997-2006), Kings Bay (2000-2002),

Bjørnøen Bjørnøen AS is a Norwegian government enterprise that owns all land and some heritage buildings on the uninhabited overseas territory of Bjørnøya (Bear Island). The company was founded as I/S Bjørnøen Kulkompani on June 3, 1918 to perfo ...

(2000-2002), and the

National Institute for Consumer Research The National Institute for Consumer Research (, SIFO) is a consumer affairs research institute based in Oslo, Norway. It has researchers in both social science, social and natural sciences. Albeit non-biased, it is not organizationally independent ...

. Of the Nordic Arts Centre in

Suomenlinna Suomenlinna (), or Sveaborg (), is a sea fortress composed of eight islands, of which six have been fortified. Located about 4 km southeast of the city center of Helsinki, the capital of Finland, Suomenlinna is a popular destination for bot ...

she was chair (1978-1982) and board member (1982-1983). In Dyno Industrier she was a board member (1985-1995) and chair (1996-2000). Of

Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, and ...

(OBOS) she was a board member (1985-1987), deputy chair (1987-1990) and chair (1990), and of OBOS Forretningsbygg she was a board member (1988-1990) and chair (1990). From 1985 to 1990 she was a board member of Norwegian Federation of Co-operative Housing Associations. She lives in

Enerhaugen Enerhaugen is today a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway which among others includes six apartment buildings on Tøyen in the borough of Gamle Oslo, located north of the neighborhood of Grønland, Oslo, Grønland. The site is located on a hill just so ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjesteby, Kari 1947 births Living people Labour Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Oslo Norwegian state secretaries Government ministers of Norway Ministers of trade and shipping of Norway Norwegian women state secretaries Norwegian bankers Librarians from Oslo Directors of government agencies of Norway 20th-century Norwegian businesswomen 20th-century Norwegian businesspeople Women bankers Women government ministers of Norway 20th-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian politicians Norwegian Association for Women's Rights people Female justice ministers Ministers of justice of Norway 21st-century Norwegian businesswomen 21st-century Norwegian businesspeople