THE BOARD

Kjell Storeide, Chairman

Storeide has broad experience of industry, partly as CEO of Stokke AS (formerly Stokke Gruppen AS) during the period 1990 - 2004. He sits on the board of several companies, including Aker ASA, Aker Material Handling AS and a number of industrial companies in the northern part of Western Norway. He is also involved as a joint owner of some of these companies. He has previously served as a member of the board of the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund (SND and SNV Invest), the board of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) and the board of TBL.

Kirsten Indgjerd Værdal, Vice Chairman

Værdal is Managing Director of Oi! Trøndersk Mat og Drikke as. She has previously been president of the Norwegian Farmers’ Union. She has also sat on the board of Tine Norske Meierier and worked for the County Governor of Nord-Trøndelag and the Ministry of Agriculture. Værdal lives in Inderøy.

Elin Tveit Sveen

Tveit Sveen is CEO of Marø Havbruk AS and Svanøy Røykeri As, joint-owner and board chairman of Marø Havbruk Eigedom AS and board chairman of Svanøy Røykeri AS. She has also held a number of political and organisational positions and is currently a deputy member of the Aquaculture section of the Norwegian Association of Fishing and Maritime Industries (FHL). She is also a member of the Rømming Commission.

Siri Bye G. Johansen

Bye Johansen is information manager for Birkeland Innovasjon AS. She has participated in Entrepreneurship Concept School (Gründerskolen) and worked for a biotech company in Silicon Valley. Since 1997, she has held many honorary positions, served on the board of Ung Tiltakslyst, been responsible for Ide/Start within Start UMB and been administration manager for the Students’ Union in Ås.

Arild Øien

Øien is hotel director for Selbusjøen Hotell og Gjestegård. She has held many honorary positions within the travel industry, including president of the travel industry section of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise and a number of positions within the former Norwegian Tourist Board. Øien is a member of the principal board of the Confederation of Norwegian Industry (NHO) and until 2006 was a member of the NHO’s work committee. Arild Øien is also chairman of the board of Kjeldstad Holding AS/Kjeldstad Sagbruk og Høvleri AS in Selbu.

Roar Flåthen

Flåthen is chairman of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO). He has sat on, and is a member of, a number of boards and committees. He is for example a member of the board of APR Media Holding and A-pressen, vice chairman of the board of Bank 1 Oslo AS, a board member of the Nordic Trade Union Council (NFS), a deputy member of the European Trade Union Confederation and a representative on the Basic Agreement Committee of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions/Confederation of Norwegian Industry and the committee for the EU’s working life policy.

Eli Blakstad

Blakstad is CEO of Peer Gynt as, former board chairman of the Norwegian Rural Youth Association, and has experience of honorary positions within Sparebank1 Gudbrandsdal, the Royal Norwegian Society for Development and Lillehammer University College.  She has been politically active for 12 years and is a member of the steering group for the ARENA programme ‘Culture and the experience industries in growth”.

Leif Frode Onarheim

Onarheim was a Member of Parliament during the period 2001-2005, president of the Confederation of Norwegian Industry, a principal at the Norwegian School of Management BI and CEO at Nora Industrier. He has broad professional experience and is now a partner in Norscan-Partners. He has held board positions in a number of large companies, including Narvesen ASA, Netcom ASA and Aschehoug. In 1986, he was awarded the order of Knight of the Order of St. Olav and was voted Leader of the Year in the same year (Farmand/ Økonomisk Rapport).

Kirsti Saxi

Saxi is in her third period as 1st Deputy Member of Parliament and in her third period as a county council representative. She has been a deputy mayor and county mayor for two years and vice-chairman of the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund (SND) on Finnmark’s board for six years.

The employees’ representatives on the board

Egil Hagen

Senior advisor for the internationalisation group within Innovation Norway. Hagen advises export companies aiming at markets in Northern Asia and Western Europe with regard to internationalisation issues. He has previously worked for Norwegian Defence and Frionor and in a number of the Norwegian Trade Council’s offices in Western Europe.

Randi Abrahamsen

Senior advisor at Innovation Norway’s office in Troms. She provides advice and is responsible for case administration within the sectors land-based energy and oil/gas, the shipyard industry, R&D and innovation. She also has product responsibility for women-oriented work at the office.

THE MANAGEMENT

CEO: Gunn Ovesen

Gunn Ovesen was Norway’s first women with a graduate degree in construction engineering (sivilingeniør) from the Norwegian Institute of Technology. She was previously an executive vice president at insurance company Storebrand, with responsibility for life and casualty business to business market. Ovesen was managing director of the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund from 2002, and has been CEO of Innovation Norway since 2004.

Travel: Per Arne Tuftin

Per Arne Tuftin is director of travel at Innovation Norway. She previously worked as communications director, a position she held since the launch of the organisation. Tuftin has previously been director of strategy within the Norwegian Tourist Board, where she was responsible for contact with authorities and information.

Division Markets Abroad: Svein Berg

Svein Berg came to Innovation Norway in 2006 from his position as managing director of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (EFF), a position he had held since 2000. He was previously director of Norway Seafoods and director of communication and strategy for the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund (SND). Svein Berg has a degree in political science from the University of Oslo.

Services and programmes: Hans Martin Vikdal

Hans Martin leads Innovation Norway’s development division and is responsible for the development and management of IN’s collective portfolio of services. He came to the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund in 2001 from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he was director of the Global Risk Management Solutions unit. He has previously worked for Sparebanken Nor and Arthur Andersen.

Strategy and Innovation Policy: Roar Tobro

Roar Tobro began in 1994 with the former Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, initially as head of administration and later as assistant director general at the office in Møre og Romsdal. He became director of the division for services and programmes in 2002 and for strategy and communication in 2007. He has previously worked for the Ministry of Agriculture and as a business manager for Ålesund local authority.

Division Norway: Siri Bjerke

Siri Bjerke came from a position as the director of industrial policy within the Confederation of Norwegian Industry (NHO) in 2005. During the period 2000-2001, she was the Minister of the Environment and, during the period 1993-1997, state secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Staff and Support: Finn Kristian Aamodt

Finn Kristian Aamodt was an executive director for the previous Norwegian Trade Council from 1999. Here, he acted as managing director during the period prior to the merger. He has previously worked for McDonalds, Provida and Accenture.