Henrik Julius Ager-Hanssen (21 July 1930 – 19 November 2004) was a Norwegian nuclear physicist and businessperson. He spent his career in the nuclear energy sector from 1956 to 1975, then in the petroleum company

Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. In th ...

from 1976 to 1998.

Career

He was born in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, and after education 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 ...

, University of Leuven and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

he got the degree Master of Nuclear Engineering. He taught nuclear energy technology at the New York University from 1956 to 1957, and then spent many years as a researcher, research leader and director at the

Institute for Energy Technology Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) was established in 1948 as the Institute for Nuclear Energy (IFA). The name was changed in 1980. Its main office is at Kjeller, Norway, and slightly under half of the institute’s activities are based in Ha ...

. He spent his four last years in nuclear energy as chief executive of Scandpower from 1971 to 1975. In 1976 Ager-Hanssen was hired as vice chief executive of the petroleum company

, based in his hometown Stavanger. He was reportedly headhunted by Finn Lied. In 1988 he briefly served as the acting chief executive, following the retirement of Arve Johnsen. From autumn 1989 he was a special adviser in the company, with special responsibility for its

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

branch. In 1998 he founded his own consulting firm Ager Energy Management. Internationally, Ager-Hanssen chaired the Committee for Special Studies and the Energy for Tomorrow's World Commission, both within the

World Energy Council The World Energy Council is a global forum for thought-leadership and tangible engagement with headquarters in London. Its mission is 'To promote the sustainable supply and use of energy for the greatest benefit of all people'. The idea for the fo ...

. In 1994 he was named on the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's Consultative Forum on environmental policy, despite Norway not being an EU member. He has served as chair of Norsk Helikopter, ''

Stavanger Aftenblad (; ) or simply ''Aftenbladet'' is a daily newspaper based in Stavanger, Norway, and owned by Schibsted Media Group. Norwegian owners held 42 percent of the shares in Schibsted at the end of 2015. is thus majority foreign-owned. History and ...

'', ONS, EnTech Invest, Scan Geophysical,

Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk Kongsberg Gruppen is a Norwegian multinational company, that supplies high-technology systems to customers in the merchant marine, defence, aerospace, offshore oil and gas industries, and renewable and utilities industries. In 2018, Kongsbe ...

, the Institute for Energy Technology, the

Center for International Climate and Environmental Research The CICERO Center for International Climate Research (abbreviated CICERO; ) is an interdisciplinary research centre for climate research and environmental science/environmental studies in Oslo. CICERO was established by the Government of Norway i ...

and Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskab. He has been a board member of

Det Norske Veritas Det Norske Veritas (DNV), formerly DNV GL, is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. DNV provides services for several industries, including maritime, oil and gas, renewable energy, e ...

, the Chr. Michelsen Institute and Siemens Norway. He was an elected fellow of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

, the

Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences (, NTVA) is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway. Founded in 1955, the academy has about 500 members. It is a member of the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technologica ...

, the

Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (, IVA), founded on 24 October 1919 by King Gustaf V, is one of the royal academies in Sweden. The academy is an independent organisation, which promotes contact and exchange between business, ...

and the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

Personal life

He married Bjørg Ager-Hanssen in 1958 and had two children, Marianne and Christen Ager-Hanssen. He died from cancer in November 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ager-Hanssen, Henrik 1930 births 2004 deaths People from Stavanger University of Oslo alumni Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Norwegian expatriates in Belgium Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian nuclear physicists Norwegian businesspeople in the oil industry Equinor people Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Members of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Deaths from cancer in Norway Polytechnic Institute of New York University faculty