Terje Riis-Johansen (born 15 March 1968) is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party who is serving as county mayor of

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfold. T ...

since 2020. Riis-Johansen was born in Skien. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

in 1993, but was not re-elected in 1997. From 1997 to 1999, during the first cabinet Bondevik, he was appointed political advisor in the Ministry of Finance. In 2005, during the

second cabinet Stoltenberg Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet was the Government of Norway from 17 October 2005 to 16 October 2013. It was a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. On 9 September ...

, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Food, but changed department in 2008 and served as

Minister of Petroleum and Energy The Minister of Petroleum and Energy ( no, Olje- og energiministeren) is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The current minister is Terje Aasland. The ministry is responsible for the government's ene ...

. On 4 March 2011 he was succeeded by fellow Centre Party politician

Ola Borten Moe Ola Borten Moe (born 6 June 1976) is a Norwegian people, Norwegian politician for the Centre Party (Norway), Centre Party. He was an MP for Sør-Trøndelag (Storting constituency), Sør-Trøndelag from 2005 to 2013, and was re-elected in 2021. Sin ...

. On the local level he was a member of Skien municipality council from 1991 to 1995. During the same term he was also a member of Telemark county council. After the

2011 Norwegian local elections Nationwide local elections for seats in municipality and county councils were held throughout Norway on 12 September 2011. Several municipalities also opened the polling booths on 11 September. For polling stations this meant that two elections, th ...

the local centre-right alliance was dissolved, and Riis-Johansen became Telemark's county mayor of a new centre-left coalition. Riis-Johansen was a member of the board of Nei til EU from 1995 to 1997, of Telemark University College from 2000 to 2003 and of the

Norwegian Farmers' Union The Norwegian Agrarian Association ( no, Norges Bondelag) is the largest Norwegian interest organization for farmers. It functions both as a labour union and as a trade union. It negotiates with the Norwegian Farmers and Smallholders Union and ...

from 2000 to 2005. As county mayor, Riis-Johansen has launched a programme to attract more foreign investment to Telemark county,

Invest in Telemark Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

References

* 1968 births Living people Politicians from Skien Centre Party (Norway) politicians Members of the Storting Ministers of Agriculture and Food of Norway Petroleum and energy ministers of Norway Chairmen of County Councils of Norway 20th-century Norwegian politicians {{Norway-politician-1960s-stub