Joakim Theodor Haagaas Lystad (born 17 April 1953) is a Norwegian civil servant. He served as the first
Director-General
A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...
of the
Norwegian Food Safety Authority
Norwegian Food Safety Authority () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for safe food and drinking water, and works within the fields of human, plant, fish and animal health as well as environmentally friendly production and ethically a ...
from 2003 to 2010, building the organization. From 2010 to 2015, he was the
Labour and Welfare Director of Norway, i.e. the head of the
Labour and Welfare Service and the
Labour and Welfare Administration and responsible for a third of the
state budget of Norway
The State budget of Norway () is a government budget passed by the Norwegian legislature, Stortinget, each year. It accumulates all income and expenses for the Government of Norway. The document defines the taxes to be collected, and what expense ...
. He is now a
special adviser
Special adviser may refer to:
*Special adviser (Norway), a high-ranking civil servant
*Special adviser (UK)
A Special Adviser, also known as a SpAd, is a temporary civil servant who advises and assists UK government ministers or ministers in th ...
in the
Ministry of Health and Care Services
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services (''Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet'') is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of health policy, public health, health care services, and health legislation in Norway. It is led by the M ...
.
Background and education
Born in
Oslo
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 ...
,
he is a grandson of the physician
Harald Lystad. He received his
cand.agric. (
MSc) degree in
environmental resource management
Environmental resource management or environmental management is the management of the interaction and impact of human societies on the environment. It is not, as the phrase might suggest, the management of the environment itself. Environment ...
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 1978 with a thesis on vegetation mapping in Oaldsbygda at
Sunnmøre
Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...
.
Career
He worked as a researcher at 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 ...
and then at the
Norwegian Institute for Water Research
The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) is an environmental research organisation which researches, monitors, assesses and studies freshwater, coastal and marine environments and environmental technology.
Services and research
NIVA's ar ...
. From 1991 to 1995 he was Assistant Director General and head of the industry department at the
Ministry of the Environment, and from 1995 to 2002 he was director of planning and control at the
Norwegian Pollution Control Authority
The Norwegian Climate and Pollution Agency (, ''Klif''), named Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (, ''SFT'') until 2010, was a Norwegian government agency from 1974 to 2013 when it was merged into the Norwegian Environment Agency.
The agency ...
.
[
In 2002, he was appointed by the ]King-in-Council
The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of app ...
as the first Director-General
A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...
of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority
Norwegian Food Safety Authority () is a Norwegian government agency responsible for safe food and drinking water, and works within the fields of human, plant, fish and animal health as well as environmentally friendly production and ethically a ...
, that was established the following year by the merger of 4 state agencies and 89 municipal agencies.
In 2010, he was appointed by the Norwegian government as head of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. He did not originally apply for the office, but was asked to take the post by minister of labour Hanne Bjurstrøm. He left the office on 10 April 2015, and was appointed as a special adviser
Special adviser may refer to:
*Special adviser (Norway), a high-ranking civil servant
*Special adviser (UK)
A Special Adviser, also known as a SpAd, is a temporary civil servant who advises and assists UK government ministers or ministers in th ...
in the Ministry of Labour
A ministry of labour ('' UK''), or labor ('' US''), also known as a department of labour, or labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, and s ...
. In the autumn of 2015, he was appointed as a special adviser in the Ministry of Health and Care Services
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services (''Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet'') is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of health policy, public health, health care services, and health legislation in Norway. It is led by the M ...
. In 2017 he was appointed by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security
The Royal Ministry of Justice and Public Security () is a Norwegian government ministry that oversees justice, the police, and domestic intelligence. The main purpose of the ministry is to provide for the maintenance and development of the basic ...
as chairman of the working group on police reform that made recommendations on the future structure of the police force and its recruitment.
References
1953 births
Living people
Civil servants from Oslo
Norwegian College of Agriculture alumni
Directors of government agencies of Norway
Rønneberg family
{{Norway-gov-bio-stub