Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, has been the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 Minister of Health since 20 June 2008 as part of the second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

. On October 8, 2009 Hansen announced that he would step down as a minister when Stoltenberg's new cabinet is put together. He was previously Minister of Agriculture from 2000 to 2001 and Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion

Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion (Norway)

The Norwegian Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion is the head of the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. The position has existed since 1 January 1846, when the Ministry of the Interior was created...

 from 2005 to 2008. He is a member of the Norwegian Labour Party.

Biography

Hanssen graduataed from Namsos Upper Secondary School in 1981 and from Levanger Teacher College

Nord-Trøndelag University College

Nord-Trøndelag University College or HiNT is a Norwegian university college located throughout the county of Nord-Trøndelag...

 in 1985. He worked within the psychiatric services before becoming administrative chief for Fosen municipality

Fosen

Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan, Åfjord, Bjugn, Ørland, Rissa, Agdenes, Snillfjord, Hemne, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow areas, and in the interior mountains reaching...

 in 1989. He was first elected to the Nord-Trøndelag county council

Nord-Trøndelag county municipality

Nord-Trøndelag County Municipality is the regional governing administration of Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of 12 upper secondary schools, with 7,000 pupils...

 in 1983. In 1995 we was elected County Mayor, but was then elected to Storting two years later. In 2000 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture, serving until 2001. He became Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion in 2005; in June 2008 he was moved to the post of Minister of Health.