Jan Petersen

Jan Petersen (born 11 June 1946, in Oslo) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. Petersen was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus in 1981, and was re-elected on six occasions. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1973–1977. From 2001 to 2005, when the second cabinet Bondevik held office, Petersen was Minister of Foreign Affairs. During this period his seat in parliament was held by André Oktay Dahl.

Jan Petersen
Petersen in 2003 as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 19 October 2001 (2001-10-19) – 17 October 2005 (2005-10-17)
Prime Minister	Kjell Magne Bondevik
Preceded by	Thorbjørn Jagland
Succeeded by	Jonas Gahr Støre
Conservative Parliamentary Leader
In office 1 October 1994 (1994-10-01) – 17 October 2001 (2001-10-17)
Leader	Himself
Preceded by	Anders Talleraas
Succeeded by	Oddvard Nilsen
Leader of the Conservative Party
In office 10 April 1994 (1994-04-10) – 9 May 2004 (2004-05-09)
First Deputy	Børge Brende Inge Lønning Erna Solberg
Second Deputy	Elisabeth Aspaker Anne Berit Andersen Per-Kristian Foss
Preceded by	Kaci Kullmann Five
Succeeded by	Erna Solberg
Member of the Norwegian Parliament
In office 1 October 1981 (1981-10-01) – 30 September 2009 (2009-09-30)
Constituency	Akershus
Mayor of Oppegård
In office 1 January 1976 (1976-01-01) – 30 September 1981 (1981-09-30)
Preceded by	Tore Haugen
Succeeded by	Bjørn Kristiansen
Leader of the Young Conservatives
In office 1971–1973
Preceded by	Hans Svelleland
Succeeded by	Per-Kristian Foss
Personal details
Born	(1946-06-11) 11 June 1946 Oslo, Norway
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Vesla Johannessen (m. 1984)
Education	University of Oslo

On the local level Petersen was a member of Oppegård municipal council from 1967 to 1983, serving as mayor from 1975 to 1981.

He chaired the Conservative Party from 1994 to 2004. From 1971 to 1973 he was the leader of the Young Conservatives (Unge Høyre), the youth wing of the Conservative Party.

Outside politics Petersen has a cand.jur. degree from the University of Oslo in 1973. Before entering national politics he worked for a few years in the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). From 2009 to 2014 he served as the Norwegian ambassador to Austria, and he then retired.

In 2004, Petersen was appointed a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav.