Kristian Ottosen

Who was Kristian Ottosen?

Kristian Ottosen was a Norwegian non-fiction writer and public servant.

While still a student, he was also active in the Norwegian resistance movement during World War II and was imprisoned as a Nacht und Nebel inmate. He was imprisoned in Veiten from June to July 1942, then in Bergen from July to September, then in Grini concentration camp from September to December. From December 1942 to June 1944 he was in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, then until September 1944 in Natzweiler-Struthof. He was then in Dachau concentration camp for three days, and Ottobrunn for one day. He was lastly in Dautmergen from September to November 1944 and Vaihingen until the war's end.

After the war, he finished his studies at the University of Bergen, where he became the leader of the Det Norske Studentersamfund first in Bergen, and then as a full-time employee at the University of Oslo. He was the manager of the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo from 1950 to 1979. He led the commission that recommended the founding of regional university colleges throughout Norway and for establishment of the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund. He also chaired the board of NRK from 1972 to 1979, and Nationaltheatret from 1981 to 1989.