Mikael Ingemarsson Odenberg (born 14 December 1953) is a Swedish politician of the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

. He was a Member of Parliament from 1991 to 2006 and Minister for Defence in the

Swedish government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and their cabinet ministers (). The Government is responsible for its actions ...

from 2006 to 2007. From 1 March 2008 to 28 February 2017 he was the director-general of

Svenska kraftnät Svenska kraftnät is an electricity transmission system operator in Sweden. It is current led by director-general Per Eckemark since 2025. It is a state-owned public utility, which was created in 1992 by splitting the former government agency Va ...

Education and military service

Mikael Odenberg performed his military service in the Coastal Artillery at the KA 4 training regiment in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

from 1973 to 1974. He finished with good grades and went through Reserve Officer Training in 1976. He also finished a management course at the Swedish National Defence College in 1994. As a Second Lieutenant he was trained at the Söderarm battery in the Roslagen archipelago, outside Stockholm. Odenberg today formally holds the rank of

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. From 1975 to 1976 Odenburg studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

and from 1976 to 1978 he studied at the

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; , HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with PhD- and Executive education progr ...

Political career

From 1972 to 1973, Odenberg was a local government ombudsman for the

Moderate Youth League The Moderate Youth League ( ; MUF), officially known in English as the Swedish Young Conservatives, is the youth wing of the Swedish Moderate Party. Of the political youth organizations that received financial support from the Swedish Agency ...

and the

Nacka Municipality Nacka Municipality () is a municipality in Stockholm County in east-central Sweden. Its seat is located at Nacka. The municipality is situated just east of the Swedish capital, Stockholm, and its western parts are considered a suburban part of ...

outside

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. In 1978 he was elected secretary-general of the Moderate Youth League; and from 1979 to 1985 he was deputy secretary to the Stockholm City Commissioner (real estate, town planning and highway departments) and secretary to the Moderate City Council Group. From 1988 to 1991 he was leader of the Moderate Party's group on healthcare matters in Stockholm County Council. In 1987 and 1991 Odenberg also served as a substitute Member of Parliament. Odenberg was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1991. He served as a member of the parliament's Committee on Housing from 1991 to 1994; as a member of the Committee on Industry and Trade from 1994 to 1998; as a member of the Committee on Labour Market and Committee on EU Affairs from 1998 to 2002; as deputy chairman of the Committee on Industry and Trade from 2002 to 2003; as a member of the

War Delegation The War Delegation (, or ''KD'') is a standing committee of the Riksdag, with its functions enumerated in the Instrument of Government and the Riksdag Act, with the purpose of replacing the Riksdag as a whole whenever Sweden is at war or is otherwi ...

in 2003; and as leader of the Moderate Party parliamentary group, deputy chairman of the Committee on Finance, and member of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2006. On 6 October 2006 Odenberg was appointed as Minister for Defence. He resigned from this post on 5 September 2007 in protest against planned government defence cuts. At a press conference Odenberg said "I want to be able to face myself in the mirror and look our military in the eye".

Personal life

Mikael Odenberg is married to Catherine, and has four children. He lives with his family in Stockholm. His sister is Christina Odenberg, a former Bishop of Lund.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odenberg, Mikael 1953 births Living people Politicians from Stockholm Members of the Riksdag from the Moderate Party Ministers for defence of Sweden Stockholm School of Economics alumni Swedish Navy officers Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006