Ole Danbolt Hagesæther is a Norwegian theologian with the

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

. He was born on 3 October 1941 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 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and he served as the Bishop of the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

from 1994 until his retirement in 2008. Hagesæther is the son of theologian

Olav Hagesæther Olav Hagesæther (1909–1999) was a Norway, Norwegian theologian, priest, and Bishop of the Diocese of Stavanger. His son, Ole Hagesæther, was also a Norwegian bishop in the Diocese of Bjørgvin. Biography Olav Hagesæther was born on 25 Augu ...

Hagesæther received his theological education from the

MF Norwegian School of Theology MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society (MF for short) is a Norwegian private specialized university. MF focuses on education, research and dissemination of their fields of expertise. The specialized university is located at Majorstu ...

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 ...

, and he graduated with his

Cand.theol. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1965. He served as a priest for a total of 41 years; with the last 13 years as Bishop. His farewell church service as a bishop was held in the Bergen Cathedral on 30 November 2008. He began his career as a substitute priest for the Diocese of Bjørgvin, filling in wherever needed from 1967–1968. Then from 1969 until 1971 he was a chaplain in the parish of

Sunndal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Nordmøre Districts of Norway, region located in the northeast part of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village o ...

. From 1972–1974, he worked as a hospital chaplain at a hospital. From 1974-1979 he was a lecturer on the faculty of the

. From 1980 to 1989, he served as the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

Holmen Church The Holmen Church () is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having hosted the wedd ...

outside of Oslo. From 1989 to 1994, he served as the

of Nordstrand Church and also as the Dean of the Søndre Aker prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

). He served as the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

from 1994 until 2008 when he retired.

References

1941 births Living people Bishops of Bjørgvin 20th-century Lutheran bishops {{Norway-Lutheran-bishop-stub