Gustav Aarestrup

Gustav Nicolay Aarestrup (1 January 1916 – 15 November 2005) was a Norwegian jurist and businessperson. He was both chief executive officer and chair of Storebrand.

Early life and World War II He was born in Steinkjer as a son of vicar Joachim Homboe Aarestrup (1866–1940) and his wife Anna Sophie Wiig (1872–1944). The family moved to Sagene two years later.

He finished his secondary education in 1933, took Oslo Commerce School in 1934 and took the cand.jur. degree in 1938. He worked as a junior solicitor in Mysen until 1940, then briefly as a police officer in Oslo before being deputy judge in Farsund from 1940 to 1941.

In 1942 he left Farsund, being hired in the insurance company Storebrand. After a year as a secretary for the American finance attaché in Sweden in 1944 and for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs-in exile in London from 1944 to 1945, he returned to Norway where he became foreign superintendent in Storebrand. Also, in 1943 he had married Ingrid Christie Krohn, daughter of professor Ivar Trygve Krohn and Ellen Christie. In both 1965 and 1976 he succeeded Per M. Hansson. During his time as chief executive of Storebrand, he was also the chief executive of Custos, Europeiske, Hypotekforsikringsselskapet, Kreditt-Atlas and Oslo Assuranceselskap. As it turned out, the Festning Tunnel project, proposed by the company Fjellinjen, prevailed. In 1986, when the tides were turning for Fjellinjen, Aarestrup referred to the project as a "misère from beginning to end".

He was also a board member of Norske Fortuna, He chaired the supervisory council of A/S Rosshavet, A/S Vestfold, Rederi A/S Ruth, Norges Skibshypotekforening and Andresens Bank, and was a supervisory council member of Autotransport. In politics he was a member of the so-called "economic committee" of the Conservative Party of Norway, which was responsible for collecting party funds. Fellow members were Bjørn Bettum (chair), Johan H. Andresen, Per Chr. Frich, Aase Gudding and Per Strøm.