Jan Martin Larsen (born 27 October 1938) is a Norwegian

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

orienteer Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared ...

and politician.

Biography

He graduated from the

Norwegian College of Agriculture The Norwegian University of Life Sciences (, NMBU) is a public university located in Ås, Norway. It is located in Akershus county and has around 7,700 students. History The institution was established in 1859 as the Higher Agricultural Coll ...

in 1963, and in his early career he worked in Fjellanger-Widerøe and the

Norwegian Ministry of the Environment The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment ( Norwegian: ''Klima- og miljødepartementet'', KLD) is a Norwegian ministry established on 8 May 1972. The Ministry of Climate and Environment has a particular responsibility for carrying ...

. From 1986 to 1989 he was the director of mapping in the

Norwegian Mapping and Cadastre Authority The Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA) () is Norway's national mapping agency, dealing with land surveying, geodesy, hydrographic surveying, cadastre and cartography. The current director is Johnny Welle. Its headquarters are in Hønefoss in Ring ...

. He was also president of the Norwegian Association for Cartography, Geodesy, Hydrography and Photogrammetry from 1969 to 1975. He owed his interest for cartography to his background in the orienteering sport. He was a board member of the

Norges Orienteringsforbund The Norwegian Orienteering Federation (, NOF) is the national Orienteering Association in Norway. It is recognized as the orienteering association for Norway by the International Orienteering Federation, of which it is a member. The associati ...

(NOF) from 1961 to 1975, and chaired the organization for four years. He was a pioneer in the development of the specialized

orienteering map An orienteering map is a map specially prepared for use in orienteering events. It is a large-scale topographic map with extra markings to help the participant navigation, navigate through the course. These maps are much more detailed than general ...

, including international cooperation. He chaired NOF's first mapping committee, which was established in 1961. This committee published a normative book, which was used as a basis for mapping courses. He was employed by NOF as a specialized consultant on mapping in 1963. The

International Orienteering Federation The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) is the international governing body of the sport of orienteering. The IOF head office is located in Karlstad Municipality, Karlstad, Sweden. The IOF governs four orienteering disciplines: foot orie ...

(IOF) was founded in 1961, and the first international mapping committee was established in 1965, chaired by Larsen, the other members being Ernst Spiess from

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 ...

and Christer Palm from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The IOF committee drafted a mapping standard in 1965, which lasted until it was replaced by a new standard in 1975. Larsen was also a member of

Asker Asker (), also called Asker proper (''Askerbygda'' or ''gamle Asker'' in Norwegian), is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway, located approximately 20km southwest of Oslo. From 2020 it is part of the ...

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

from 1995 to 2007, representing the local

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

party ''Askers Grønne Venner''. He has chaired the local history association, and has written a number of books on local history. In 2002 he was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Jan Martin Norwegian cartographers Norwegian male orienteers Norwegian environmentalists Asker politicians Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni Orienteering innovators Orienteering in Norway 1938 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian people 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen