Jan Petersen is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party

Conservative Party of Norway

The Conservative Party is a Norwegian political party. The current leader is Erna Solberg. The party was since the 1920s consistently the second largest party in Norway, but has been surpassed by the growth of the Progress Party in the late 1990s and 2000s...

.

He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus

Akershus

- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...

 in 1981, and was re-elected on six occasions. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1973–1977. From 2001 to 2005, when the second cabinet Bondevik

Second cabinet Bondevik

Bondevik's Second Cabinet governed Norway between 19 October 2001 and 17 October 2005. It was led by Kjell Magne Bondevik and consisted of the Conservative Party, the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberal Party. It had the following composition:...

 held office, Petersen was Minister of Foreign Affairs. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by André Oktay Dahl

André Oktay Dahl

André Oktay Dahl is a Norwegian politician representing the Conservative Party. He is currently a representative of Akershus in the Storting and was first elected in 2005...

.

On the local level Petersen was a member of Oppegård

Oppegård

Oppegård is a village and municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Follo. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kolbotn. The new municipality of Oppegård was separated from the municipality of Nesodden on 1 July 1915...

 municipal council from 1967 to 1983, serving as mayor from 1975 to 1981.

He chaired the Conservative Party from 1994 to 2004. From 1971 to 1973 he was the leader of the Young Conservatives

Norwegian Young Conservatives

Norwegian Young Conservatives is a Norwegian youth party. Its ideology is liberal conservatism, and the party is in many ways more liberal than its mother party, Conservative Party of Norway. Henrik Asheim succeeded Torbjørn Røe Isaksen as leader in 2008.- Leaders :...

 (Unge Høyre), the youth wing of the Conservative Party.

Outside of politics, Petersen has a cand.jur. degree from the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 in 1973. Before entering national politics he worked for a few years in the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its task is to ensure effective foreign aid, with quality assurance and evaluation. NORAD both finances NGOs, and does its own research and projects. The current director general is...

 (Norad). He is the current Norwegian ambassador to Austria.

In 2004, Petersen was appointed a Commander with Star of the Order of St. Olav.