Tore Lindholt (13 October 1941 – 14 November 2021) was a Norwegian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

for the Labour Party. He was twice the acting director of the

Norwegian State Railways 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 *Norwegian language, including the two ...

, and

Folketrygdfondet The Government Pension Fund of Norway () is the sovereign wealth fund collective owned by the government of Norway. It consists of two entirely separate sovereign wealth funds: the Government Pension Fund Global (or Norges Bank Investment Mana ...

from 1990 to 2004. He was born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

as a son of Torbjørn Torstensen Lindholt (1916–1982) and Ruth Borgny Lund (1922–2001). He was the oldest of eight children. He graduated from the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

with a cand.oecon. degree in 1967, and worked as a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

from 1968 to 1971. He had short spells in Kreditkassen from 1971 to 1972 and the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

from 1973 to 1974, but mainly worked as an

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

at the University of Oslo from 1972. He has later stated that he was too "restless" to pursue an academic career. He was a member of the Labour Party, and was appointed a private secretary (today known as political advisor) in the Ministry of Transport and Communications between 1976 and 1978 as a part of Nordli's Cabinet. In 1978 he was a secretary for the Labour Party parliamentary group for a few months before being hired as chief financial officer in the Norwegian State Railways. When

Robert Nordén Robert Fredrik Nordén (27 September 1926 – 29 July 1998) was a Norwegian economist, civil servant and politician for the Labour Party. He was the director of the Norwegian State Railways from 1978 to 1988. He was born in Oslo, and was a cand. ...

left as director-general in 1987, Lindholt became acting director-general until 1988. The same thing happened in 1990, when

Kjeld Rimberg Kjeld Rimberg (25 November 1943 – 27 September 2024) was a Norwegian businessperson. Background Rimberg was born in Bergen on 25 November 1943, a son of Sverre Johan Rimberg and Eli Lien. He married architect Reidun Tvedt in 1965. Rimberg died o ...

resigned after two years in the position, only that the position had changed its name from director-general to president. Board chairman Arne Rettedal was not a supporter of Lindholt. In 1990, Lindholt released the book ''Avsporing. Kampen om NSB'', about the inner circles of the State Railways. In it, he described Rettedal in a less favourable way. Also, according to Lindholt, he got his first spell as acting director-general (1987–1988) because

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Kjell Borgen Kjell Borgen (21 October 1939 – 22 August 1996) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1986 to 1988, Minister of Local Government from 1988 to 1989 and again from 1990 to 1 ...

took a personal initiative, unbeknownst to Lindholt, to remove Robert Nordén (Lindholt, Borgen and Nordén were politicians for the Labour Party). Borgen announced his intentions to Lindholt over the telephone. After leaving the State Railways, Lindholt was the chief executive officer of

from 1990 to 2004. He has also been deputy board chairman of

Narvesen Narvesen is a Norway, Norwegian chain of Newsagent's shop, newsagents / convenience stores which, with its 370 outlets nationwide, is one of Norway's largest retailers. The company has since 2000 been part of the Reitan Group (''Reitangruppen''). ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindholt, Tore 1941 births 2021 deaths Norwegian economists University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian State Railways (1883–1996) people Directors of government agencies of Norway Chief financial officers Politicians from Trondheim