Olav Ulleren

Olav Ulleren (born 7 October 1954) is a Norwegian organizational leader, civil servant and former politician for the Centre Party. A veterinarian by education, he was a mayor and State Secretary during his political career, and has since made his mark as general director of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities. He is currently CEO of The Norwegian Heart and Lung Patient Organization's clinics.

Career Early career Ulleren was born in Tinn, and finished his secondary education in 1973. He took the cand.med.vet. degree at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science in 1978, was a research assistant in 1979 and acting municipal veterinarian in Tinn in 1980. He then held two substitute jobs before doing his compulsory military service. From 1983 to 1991 he worked as the municipal veterinarian in Tinn. He later took a master's degree in Knowledge Management from the Norwegian School of Management.

Political career Ulleren was a member of Tinn municipal council from 1983 to 1987, was not re-elected in 1987 but then returned in 1991. In 1991 he was elected deputy mayor, and in 1994 he became mayor of Tinn municipality. Subsequently, the Centre Party in Tinn plummeted with 27.3 percentage points. He was also chairman of the Industrial Development Corporation of Norway and Tinn Sparebank and a board member of Telemark University College during the 1990s. He was also a member of the Norwegian Council for Quality Improvement and Priority Setting in Health Care. and in 2006 he described himself as "without a political attachment".

In 2002 Ulleren was hired as general director of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS). In addition to the usual task of negotiating wages with the trade unions of employees in the municipal sector, Ulleren marked himself as more politically involved than several of his predecessors. though at the end of his term in 2009, both still existed.

Civil servant In late 2008, it was announced that Ulleren would become the new permanent under-secretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 2009, succeeding Per Harald Grue who was due to retire. The permanent under-secretary of State is the highest-ranking position in a Ministry, except for the partisan positions of Minister and State Secretary. Among the tasks in the Ministry of Agriculture is to represent the state party in the annual general price settlement on agricultural produce.

The decision to appoint Ulleren was criticized by Hans Frode Asmyhr of the Progress Party for being a perceived consolidation of the Centre Party. First, the Minister who was responsible for the appointment, Lars Peder Brekk, represents the Centre Party. Second, Asmyhr insinuated that the other parties in the agricultural settlement also represented the Centre Party. Lars Peder Brekk deemed Asmyhr's allegations to be "clear-cut piffle", citing that Ulleren had the necessary qualifications for the position. In addition, other politicians from opposition parties, including Leif Helge Kongshaug (Liberal) and Torbjørn Hansen (Conservative), defended the appointment of Ulleren.

Personal life After leaving Tinn in 1999, Ulleren has lived in Bærum and Oslo. He still owns 20,000 decares of land in Tinn, which includes fields, forest and freshwater. Although he owns two dozen sheep, and sells licenses for fishing and Lagopus hunting on his estate, he uses the land mainly for recreation. Ulleren's hobbies include telemark skiing.

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