Egil Helle was a 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...

 newspaper editor, information worker and biographer.

He was born in Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

. He started his journalist career in 1942, during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany

The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

, in the illegal press. The name of his illegal newspaper changed several times, from Ukenytt via Norges demring to Fram. He had to flee to Sweden towards the end of World War II. After the war he worked as a journalist in Bergens Arbeiderblad

Bergensavisen

Bergensavisen , usually shortened to BA, is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. It is published in tabloid format. The newspaper webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage....

from 1945 to 1952 and in Arbeiderbladet

Dagsavisen

Dagsavisen is a daily newspaper published in Oslo, Norway. The former party organ of the Norwegian Labour Party, the ties loosened over time from 1975 to 1999, and it is now fully independent...

from 1952 to 1961. He was then the editor-in-chief of Bergens Arbeiderblad from 1961 to 1964, before working on the editor's board of Arbeiderbladet from 1964 to 1975. He was the press spokesman in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway...

 from 1975 to 1978, and information director in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is a Norwegian ministry responsible for energy, including petroleum and natural gas production in the North Sea. It is led by Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe...

 from 1978 to 1991. He was the first to hold this post in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, and saw seven government ministers come and go during his time.

Helle was a prolific non-fiction writer. He authored biographies of Oscar Torp

Oscar Torp

was a Norwegian politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He was party leader from 1923 to 1945, and mayor of Oslo in 1935 and 1936. In 1935 he became acting Minister of Defence in the government of Johan Nygaardsvold. He was also Minister of Social Affairs from 1936 to 1939, and then Minister of...

 (1982), Einar Gerhardsen

Einar Gerhardsen

was a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party of Norway. He was Prime Minister for three periods, 1945–1951, 1955–1963 and 1963–1965. With 17 years in office, he is the longest serving Prime Minister in Norway since the introduction of parliamentarism...

 (1987), Christian Holtermann Knudsen

Christian Holtermann Knudsen

Christian Holtermann Knudsen was a Norwegian typographer, newspaper editor, publisher, trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party. He is known as chairman of his party in three non-consecutive periods, and also founded what would become the main party newspaper...

 (1988), Nils Langhelle

Nils Langhelle

Nils Langhelle was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party and Minister of Labour 1945-1946, Norway's first Minister of Transport and Communications 1946-1951 and 1951–1952, Minister of Defense 1952-1954, Minister of Trade and Shipping 1954-1955 and President of the Storting from May 7, 1958...

 (1991) and Kyrre Grepp

Kyrre Grepp

Kyrre Grepp Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party. Grepp became a Communist by the end of his life and was active in the Comintern.A street is named after Grepp in the Sagene borough of Oslo....

 (1995). In 1984, he wrote a Norwegian petroleum history, and he has also written books about the Folketeatret building

Folketeatret

Folketeatret is a theatre in Oslo, Norway. The building has existed longer than the theatre, and been used as a movie theatre and opera house....

 and Biblioteksentralen

Biblioteksentralen

Biblioteksentralen AL is a library center for public libraries in Norway, with offices in Oslo. It is the leading supplier of products and services to these libraries. Libraries purchase books and equipment through Biblioteksentralen....

.

Helle was married, and lived in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. He died in April 2006.