Per Ottar Sefland (born 27 January 1949) is a previous Governor of

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

. He served from 1 October 2005 to 16 September 2009. Sefland was born in Evje, and his family later moved to

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

. He married in 1972, and has two daughters. He is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

by education (

cand.jur. Candidate of Law (Latin: ''candidatus/candidata juris/iuris'') is both a graduate law degree awarded to law students in the Nordic region as well as an academic status designation for advanced Law School students in German-speaking countries. ...

, University of Oslo, 1975), and is a career law enforcement

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. After studying he was a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Justice from 1975 to 1976, police superintendent in

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

from 1976 to 1979, deputy judge in Kristiansund from 1979 to 1980 and chief superintendent in Nordmøre from 1980 to 1982. In 1982 he became acting chief of police of Vest-Finnmark, and in 1984 he became chief of police in Nordmøre. While serving in this position he had short leaves to serve in the

Norwegian Prosecuting Authority Norwegian Prosecuting Authority ( no, Påtalemyndigheten) is a body subordinate to the Norwegian Council of State. This body is responsible for legal prosecutions in Norway. It is divided into three levels. The third level of the Prosecuting Autho ...

and as Assisting County Governor of Møre og Romsdal. He also attended the Nato Defence College in Rome in 1997 and the

Norwegian National Defence College Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

in 1986. In 1997 he was hired as director of the Norwegian Police Surveillance Service, which was named the Norwegian Police Security Service in 2001. From 2003 to 2005 he worked as a chief of police without portfolio in the National Police Directorate, and in 2005 he became the new Governor of Svalbard. He was preceded by Odd Olsen Ingerø and immediately by acting governor Sven Ole Fagernæs.Previous Governors
, Svalbard Government website, retrieved October 24, 2007 He was succeeded by Odd Olsen Ingerø, who then served a second term as governor.New Governor of Svalbard
, Svalbard Government website, retrieved October 30, 2009

References

1949 births Living people People from Evje og Hornnes University of Oslo alumni Norwegian police chiefs Directors of government agencies of Norway Governors of Svalbard {{Svalbard-bio-stub