Jan Grøndahl is a Norwegian police chief and civil servant.

He was born 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...

, and took the cand.jur. degree. After spending the years 1972 to 1977 as chief of police in Sør-Varanger

Sør-Varanger

Sør-Varanger is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kirkenes. Sør-Varanger was separated from the municipality of Vadsø on 1 July 1858.-Name:...

, he served as Governor of Svalbard

Governor of Svalbard

The Governor of Svalbard represents the Norwegian government in exercising its sovereignty over the Svalbard archipelago .The position reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Justice, but it maintains all Norwegian interests in the area, including environmental protection, law enforcement,...

 from 1978 to 1982 and chief of police in Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

 from 1982 to 1998—except for the years 1991 to 1993, when he was acting director of the Norwegian Police Surveillance Agency.