The Board
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Eirik Øwre Thorshaug
Thorshaug has extensive political and organizational experience. He was the State Secretary (Deputy Minister) in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from 2012-2013 under PM Jens Stoltenberg's Second Government. Previously he was State Secretary (Deputy Minister) in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MoJ) from 2011-2012, and the political advisor to the Minister of Justice from 2007-2011. He joined Telenor Norway in June 2015, as Director of Governmental Relations.
BOARD MEMBER
Tor-Aksel Busch
BOARD MEMBER
Rune Jakobsen
Lieutenant General Jakobsen is the former head of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, NJHQ before he retired in 2021. He has also, among other things been the inspector General for the Norwegian Army, Chief of the Operations Staff at NJHQ, Contingent Commander in Afghanistan and Chief of the Military Academy. He has also led the staff of the Chief of Army and the Telemark battalion.
BOARD MEMBER
Berit Enge
Berit Enge is founder and director of the Nordic Press Center in Washington DC, a resource center and training platform for early-career Nordic journalists. She is a former Norwegian diplomat who has held posts at Norway’s embassy in Washington, at Norway’s UN Mission in New York, and at the Norwegian embassy in Tokyo. She has served as speechwriter in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo, worked as a journalist for regional and national newspapers and web platforms in Norway, and participated in political campaigns in Japan and in the United States. She has also served as Chair and Board member of the Norwegian Refugee Council USA (NRC-USA).
BOARD MEMBER
Eskil Grendahl Sivertsen
Eskil Grendahl Sivertsen has an extensive background as a strategic advisor in the military sector, in the foreign service, the communications sector and technology and science field. He has been a speech writer and communications advisor for several Norwegian Defence Ministers, Chief Defence Officer for psychological operations and the spokesperson for the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Børge Brende.
BOARD MEMBER
Odd Berner Malme
Odd Berner Malme is a former Senior Adviser at the Norwegian Police Directorate. He served as Head of Law Enforcement for the OSCE in Serbia, where he was responsible for the reform of the Serbian Police Force. From 2007 to 2012, Malme was Minister Counsellor and Police Adviser at Norway’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. His primary areas of responsibility were peace and security and the rule of law, with a particular focus on peacekeeping operations, counterterrorism, and combating organized crime. From 2001 to 2007, Malme served as Assistant National Police Commissioner in Norway. Prior to that, beginning in 1997, he headed the Organized Crime Division of the Oslo Police District. In addition to his education from the Norwegian Police University College, Malme is a graduate of the FBI’s National Executive Institute. He also served as Head of International Cooperation at the Norwegian Ministry of Justice. Malme played a key role in the implementation of the Schengen Agreement and the establishment of the Baltic Sea Task Force. He has worked for the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST), handling cases related to national security. Malme is also one of the founders of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
BOARD MEMBER
Maria Collett Sælør
Maria Collett Sælør worked on national security issues in the Police Department of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security for 12 years. She served as Head of the Legal and Investigations Department at the Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) from 2005 to 2011. As a prosecutor and a member of senior leadership in both a local police district and PST, Sælør collaborated with the Norwegian Armed Forces and the Norwegian Intelligence Service on legal matters and during major NATO exercises. She also represented PST on legal issues in cooperative forums for international intelligence and security services. Sælør’s experience in public administration at the Ministry of Justice included close cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other relevant ministries to safeguard the interests of the justice sector in matters of national security. She has extensive expertise in export controls, compliance with and auditing of the Norwegian Security Act, and Norway’s implementation of the sanctions regime following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.