Kjeld Rimberg (25 November 1943 – 27 September 2024) was a Norwegian businessperson.

Background

Rimberg was born in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

on 25 November 1943, a son of Sverre Johan Rimberg and Eli Lien. He married architect Reidun Tvedt in 1965. Rimberg died on 27 September 2024, at the age of 80.

Early career

Rimberg was from

Nordnes Nordnes is a peninsula and neighbourhood in the city centre of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The ...

and was an avid skier and ski-instructor in his youth. He worked as instructor in Switzerland for some time, combined with studies in Zurich. He took his education in

construction engineering Construction engineering, also known as construction operations, is a professional subdiscipline of civil engineering that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and operations management of infrastructure such as roadways, tunnels, bri ...

ETH Zürich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ra ...

before graduating from the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

in 1969. He was active in the Student Society in Trondheim, and worked as a research assistant at the Norwegian Institute of Technology as well as a researcher for NTNF for five years. In 1982 he became the CEO of Asplan. From September to 31 December he worked as CEO of Byggforsk to get that organization on its feet. In 1986 he was named as board member of

Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk Kongsberg Gruppen is a Norwegian multinational company, that supplies high-technology systems to customers in the merchant marine, defence, aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries, and renewable and utilities industries. In 2018, Kongsbe ...

. He was also a board member of Norconsult, and was in 1987 named as chair of

Vinmonopolet Vinmonopolet (), symbolized by Ⓥ and colloquially shortened to Polet, is a government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75% in Norway. As the arm of the ...

, where he stayed until 1995. Shortly thereafter the company KV Forsvar was split from Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, and Rimberg became chair there as well. He was a deputy board member of

Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. In th ...

Norwegian State Railways

In 1988 Rimberg applied for the director-general position in the

Norwegian State Railways 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 *Norwegian language, including the two ...

Robert Nordén Robert Fredrik Nordén (27 September 1926 – 29 July 1998) was a Norwegian economist, civil servant and politician for the Labour Party. He was the director of the Norwegian State Railways from 1978 to 1988. He was born in Oslo, and was a cand. ...

had left, and

Tore Lindholt Tore Lindholt (13 October 1941 – 14 November 2021) was a Norwegian economist, civil servant and politician for the Labour Party. He was twice the acting director of the Norwegian State Railways, and Folketrygdfondet from 1990 to 2004. He was b ...

was acting director-general. He was hired in September. He had to overcome opposition from Leif Thue and the Norwegian Union of Railway Workers, then the wage question had to be sorted out. The name of the position was changed from director-general to chief executive officer. In February 1990, after thirteen months in the job, he resigned, citing lack of freedom from political regulations as the reason. Leif Thue and the Union of Railway Workers stated that they did "not lament" his resignation.

Consulting career

In 1989 Rimberg had become chairman of the

Norwegian Polytechnic Society The Polytechnic Society () is a Norwegian member network that inspires a science-based and sustainable development, through technology and interdisciplinary partnerships. It was founded in 1852 in Christiania (now: Oslo). The organisation was origin ...

. He remained so until 1991. In 1990 he became a board member of Den Norske Hypotekforening and Rogalandsforskning, and chairman of Norsk Nyetablering. He was also chair of Chr. Grøner and Terramar, and deputy chair of Byggholt. After resigning Rimberg started his own consulting firm. In 1990 he was a project adviser in

Statkraft Statkraft AS is a hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is ac ...

, He was also an adviser for the

Norwegian School of Management BI Norwegian Business School () is a Norwegian specialized university that provides education and conducts research primarily in the fields of business and economics, marketing, strategy, management, and administration. BI is organized as a self ...

. He also hired other consultants to work in the company, including

Siri Hatlen Siri Beate Hatlen (born 5 May 1957) is a Norwegian businessperson. A "Sivilingeniør" by education with several years in the petroleum industry, since 1996 she has been an independent consultant. After succeeding in turning operations in various c ...

. Rimberg chaired

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo () is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was ...

from 1992 to 2001. He was chairman of Forskningsparken,

Anthon B Nilsen Anthon B Nilsen AS is a Norwegian investment company. It was established by Anthon Bernhard Elias Nilsen in 1879 to export pulp and paper products and lumber. His sons Reidar and Gunnar Holst took over in the 1930s, and ultimately established the ...

, STEP, and Berstad Wallendahl, a board member of

Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises o ...

, Norge 2005, and Aker. He was also an owner in Aker. In 2006 he had 10,300 stocks in the company, through his own company Kjeld Rimberg & Co. He was a fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technologica ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimberg, Kjeld 1943 births 2024 deaths Businesspeople from Bergen ETH Zurich alumni Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Engineers from Bergen Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996) people Directors of government agencies of Norway Norwegian consultants Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences