[1] He holds a master's degree from Norwegian School of Economics.

He has been part of the Executive board since 2003, first as CFO and from 2010 to 2014 as director of Marketing, Processing and Renewable energy.

As CFO he played a major role in the merger of Statoil with Hydro Oil & Gas in 2007.

He has also been responsible for Statoil's marketing strategy for natural gas sale in Europe.

He denied any interest in taking on the position permanently, but changed his mind after being asked by the board in December 2014.