Asbjørn Skarstein (7 March 1922 – 22 October 1999) was a Norwegian civil servant and diplomat. He was born in

Kristiania 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, an ...

, and held the siv.øk. degree. He was hired 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 ...

as an assistant secretary in 1956. He served as a councillor at the Norwegian embassies in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

from 1960 and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

from 1962. In 1965 he returned to Norway; being a sub-director from 1965 to 1967 and deputy under-secretary of state from 1967 to 1975, both in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was then the permanent under-secretary of state in the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Shipping, the highest-ranking bureaucratic position, from 1975 to 1981. He then served as Norway's ambassador to Italy from 1981 to 1984. He also doubled as the ambassador to Malta. In 1985 Georg Kristiansen left as ambassador of France. Skarstein took over and served until 1988.

References

1922 births 1999 deaths Diplomats from Oslo Ambassadors of Norway to Italy Ambassadors of Norway to Malta Ambassadors of Norway to France Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland Norwegian expatriates in Belgium {{Norway-gov-bio-stub