Ole Colbjørnsen

Ole Colbjørnsen (30 May 1897, Vegaardsheien, Nedenes – 12 November 1973) was a Norwegian journalist, economist and Labour Party politician.

Early life and career He was born in Vegaardsheien Municipality as a son of Torjus Taxeraas (1859–1918) and Marie Colbjørnsen (1869–1958). He took his examen artium in Arendal before turning 18 years old, and enrolled as a student in 1915. He studies natural sciences, and got work as an assistant of professors Carl Størmer and Lars Vegard. Colbjørnsen and Sømme helped build a new political platform. First, they helped shift the labour movement's focus from redistribution to production. Second, they helped create acceptance for doing this within the framework of the state, earlier lambasted as bourgeois.

In 1935, the Labour Party prevailed and formed a Cabinet led by Johan Nygaardsvold. Colbjørnsen did not become involved in this cabinet, He was a board member of the Norwegian Industrial Bank from 1936, and chairman from 1938 to 1940. Following the 1936 general election he became as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway, representing the constituency Oslo,

In the late 1930s he repeatedly nominated Mahatma Gandhi for the Nobel peace prize, which never was awarded to him.

Colbjørnsen had to leave Norway when World War II reached the country in 1940. He worked at the Norwegian embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1946 he was a delegate and in 1947 an advisor in the United Nations General Assembly, and in 1947 he participated in the United Nations Economic and Social Council assembly. After a period there led a quiet life. He had married Veslemøy Ihlen Larssen in 1936, and was a son-in-law of Olav Johan Sopp. He died in November 1973 in Oslo.