Ole Andreas Øverland

Ole Andreas Øverland (17 March 1855 – 20 June 1911) was a Norwegian historian, writer and illustrator. He was characterized by Terje Bratberg as "one of the most prolific historians Norway has produced". He is best known for writing and illustrating two editions of a history of Norway; Illustreret Norges Historie (published by Folkebladet, Kristiania) Biography Øverland was born in Trondhjem (now Trondheim), Norway. He was the son of Ole Andreas Øverland (1819-1871) and his wife Gjertine Birgitte Moe (1818-1881). He graduated from Trondheim Cathedral School in 1873. Two years later he was awarded his philosophicum. He worked for a few years as a teacher before moving to Christiania (now Oslo) in 1878. He worked at the National Archives of Norway (Riksarkivet) until 1885. In 1880 he was awarded a Peter Andreas Munch scholarship (P. A. Munchs legat).

He then began writing what would become the first edition of his Illustreret Norges Historie, which was published in five volumes from 1885 to 1895. He was at the same time developing a 12-volume edition of the work, finishing in 1898. In between working on this major work which received funding from Stortinget, he also wrote a number of other, smaller studies, biographies, and reviews. He produced a variety of historical works and published several textbooks. He was made a Government scholar (statsstipendiat) in 1898.

Selected works Huset Bernadotte, 1882 Professor Dr. Ludvig Daae. En biografisk Skisse, 1884 Lærebog i Norges nyeste historie, 1886 Fra en svunden tid. Sagn og optegnelser, 1888 Vikingtog og Vinlandsfærder, 1896 Af Sagnet og Historien, 1897 Borgerne paa Fredrikshald. Skildringer fra krigen aar 1716, 1897 Korstogenes Historie, 1900 Oberst Hans Helgesen, 1903 Thraniterbevægelsen, 1903 Da vort kongepar kom. Mindeblad fra Norges nyeste historie, 1906 Det gamle Norge i billeder og tekst, 1910 Gallery of illustration