Bjørn Larsen (3 April 1922 – 3 November 2007) was a Norwegian economist and civil servant. He was born in

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

. He graduated with the cand.oecon. degree in 1947. He worked one year at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, then as a consultant in the Norwegian Price Directorate from 1948 to 1952. He applied for an assistant secretary position in the Ministry of Trade 1952, but Larsen being the best qualified applicant, Minister of Trade

Erik Brofoss Erik Brofoss (21 June 1908 – 7 May 1979) was a Norwegian economist and politician for the Labour Party. Brofoss was born in Kongsberg. In his younger days he was an athlete who competed national level in the 100 metres. He represented Kongsbe ...

rejected him because he was needed in the Price Directorate. He was instead hired as an assistant secretary in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. He was promoted to deputy under-secretary of state in 1958, and remained so until 1971, except for the period from 1961 to 1962 when he served as a director in

EFTA The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the European Union ...

. He was the permanent under-secretary of state in the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

from 1971 to 1972 (acting) and in the Ministry of Government Administration and Consumer Affairs from 1972 to 1991. Larsen also co-wrote the Labour Party's platform on economic policy for the term 1957–1961. He died in 2007.

References

1922 births 2007 deaths Norwegian economists Norwegian civil servants Labour Party (Norway) politicians People from Sandefjord {{Norway-economist-stub