Svein Ole Sæther (born 26 July 1948) is a Norwegian diplomat.
He 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 ...
, and is a
cand.polit. by education. He started working for the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Norwegian or ''Utenriksdepartementet''; or ''Utanriksdepartementet''; UD) is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway. It was established on June 7, 1905, the same day the Parliament of ...
in 1975. He was the Norwegian ambassador to
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
from 1992 to 1997, and to
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
from 1997 to 2001. After a period as deputy under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2007, he became the Norwegian ambassador to the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in 2007. Norway's ties to China were severely damaged following the Nobel Peace Prize to
Liu Xiaobo
Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...
, thus Norway chose not to rotate Sæther to another post, which would have been done after approximately five years. After ties were resumed in December 2016, Sæther was allowed to retire the following year.
References
1948 births
Living people
Norwegian civil servants
Ambassadors of Norway to Turkey
Ambassadors of Norway to Israel
Ambassadors of Norway to China
{{Norway-diplomat-stub