Ola Elvestuen

Ola Elvestuen (born 9 October 1967) is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party who served as Minister of Climate and the Environment from 2018 to 2020. He was also the party's deputy leader from 2008 to 2020 (2008–2012 as second deputy and 2012–2020 as first deputy), and has been an MP for Oslo since 2013.

Ola Elvestuen
Elvestuen in 2019.
Minister of Climate and the Environment
In office 17 January 2018 – 24 January 2020
Prime Minister	Erna Solberg
Preceded by	Vidar Helgesen
Succeeded by	Sveinung Rotevatn
First Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
In office 14 April 2012 – 26 September 2020
Leader	Trine Skei Grande
Preceded by	Helge Solum Larsen
Succeeded by	Sveinung Rotevatn
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2013
Deputy	Grunde Almeland (2018–2020)
Constituency	Oslo
Second Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party
In office 13 April 2008 – 14 April 2012
Leader	Lars Sponheim Trine Skei Grande
Succeeded by	Terje Breivik
Oslo City Commissioner for Transport and the Environment
In office 24 October 2011 – 15 October 2013
Governing Mayor	Stian Berger Røsland
Preceded by	Jøran Kallmyr
Succeeded by	Guri Melby
Personal details
Born	(1967-10-09) 9 October 1967 (age 57) Vestre Toten, Norway
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Greta Elvestuen

Personal life

He is married to Greta Elvestuen.^[1]

He is a younger brother of illustrator Per Elvestuen.^[2]

Political career

Party politics

In 2008, he became second deputy leader of his party, and then first deputy in 2012, which he was until 2020.^[3][4]

Local politics

On the local level Elvestuen was a member of Oslo city council from 2003 to 2015, and served as city commissioner for public transport and environmental affairs from 2011 until his election to Parliament in 2013.^[5]

Parliament

Elvestuen was a member of the Storting from Oslo in 2013, and served as leader of the Energy and the Environment Committee since 2013. He has been re-elected to Parliament since.

Prior to this, he served as a deputy representative to the Storting from Oslo from 2001 to 2013.^[6]

Minister of Climate and the Environment

After the Liberal Party entered the Solberg Cabinet, Elvestuen was appointed minister of climate and the environment on 17 January 2018, succeeding the Conservatives' Vidar Helgesen.^[7]

In April 2018, he announced that the government would be adding 2 million NOK to the "Fishing for litter" scheme for 2018, in response to plastic being discovered at a bird mountain in Runde.^[8]

In June, he announced that the government would approve the establishment of Lofotodden National Park in Nordland county, which had been proposed by both Moskenes Municipality and Flakstad Municipality.^[9]

In October, he praised Mattvett and Findus' advertisements at the Oslo train station, which showed that 335 000 tons of food is wasted a year. He notably praised them for raising awareness of food wasting and called on consumers to help reduce food waste.^[10]

In May 2019, Elvestuen expressed his disagreement with his Brazilian counterpart, Ricardo Salles, who had stated that Norway's billion contribution to the Amazon rain forest fund was futile. Elvestuen stated: "The fund as a whole has certainly contributed to reduced deforestation. Norway's cooperation with Brazil is results-based. All Norwegian funds are a reward for reducing deforestation".^[11]

Elvestuen was among the non-Progress Party ministers to be dismissed on 24 January 2020 alongside the Progress Party ministers, who stepped down as a result of their party withdrawing from government. He was succeeded by fellow Liberal Party member Sveinung Rotevatn.^[12]

In her self biography released in 2021 after her resignation, Siv Jensen described Elvestuen as the "most active cabinet member who wanted to tear down the coalition's cooperation". She also said that he demanded many postponed government conferences "by many hours" and "never gave up". Elvestuen refused to comment Jensen's recollection of him, but notes that there was hard fighting for many issues such as climate change, nature and drug reform.^[13]

References

1. "Elvestuen nominert til pris. Av kona" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
2. Reisegg, Øyvind (2007). "Per Elvestuen". In Henriksen, Petter (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
3. "Ola Elvestuen Nestleder i Venstre: Stortingsrepresentant (Oslo) Leder i Energi- og miljøkomiteen". venstre. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
4. "Ny ledertrio i Venstre: -Ikke skuff oss" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
5. Tvedt, Knut Are; Sandsmark, Per Magnus Finnanger. "Ola Elvestuen". In Bolstad, Erik (ed.). Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
6. "Ola Elvestuen" (in Norwegian). Storting.
7. "Dette er Norges nye klima- og miljøminister" (in Norwegian). NRK. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
8. "– Sånn kan vi ikke ha det" (in Norwegian). NRK. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
9. "Her kommer nasjonalpark nummer 40" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
10. "Elvestuen: – Sløsing å kaste spiselig mat" (in Norwegian). Dagsavisen. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
11. "Brasils miljøminister: – Norges milliardbidrag i Amazonas-fondet er bortkastet" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
12. "Her er Solberg-regjeringen 4.0" (in Norwegian). NRK. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
13. "Siv Jensen i ny bok: «Carl og Eli ble mer og mer nedrige»" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

Party political offices
Preceded by Helge Solum Larsen	First Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 2012–2020	Succeeded by Sveinung Rotevatn
Preceded by N/A	Second Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party 2008–2012	Succeeded by Terje Breivik
Political offices
Preceded by Vidar Helgesen	Minister of Climate and the Environment 2018–2020	Succeeded by Sveinung Rotevatn
Preceded by Jøran Kallmyr	Oslo City Commissioner for Transport and the Environment 2011–2013	Succeeded by Guri Melby