Frode E. T. Nilsen is a Norwegian diplomat.

He was born in Arendal

Arendal

is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. Arendal belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet.The town of Arendal is the administrative center the municipality and also of Aust-Agder county...

, but grew up in Dypvåg

Dypvåg

Dypvåg is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is currently located within the municipality of Tvedestrand in the traditional region of Sørlandet about east of the village of Tvedestrand.-Name:...

 and Tinn

Tinn

Tinn is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan....

. During World War II he served in Milorg

Milorg

Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....

. After the war he majored in political science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 in 1951, followed by a trainee period in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Norwegian National Defence College.

He was a counsellor at the Norwegian embassy in Washington, DC from 1965 to 1972, and was later dispatched to Chile. He was the Norwegian ambassador in Chile from 1975 to 1982, ambassador to the Caribbean from 1982 to 1987, in Venezuela from 1987 to 1988 and again in Chile from 1988 to 1992. He retired in 1992.