Kristin Krohn Devold is a former Minister of Defence of Norway who was forced to resign as a result of promoting Atle Torbjørn Karlsvik

Atle Torbjørn Karlsvik

Rear Admiral Atle Torbjørn Karlsvik is a Norwegian naval officer who is charged for fraud and dereliction of duty. The appointment of him to Rear Admiral has in itself been surrounded by controversy...

 to head Norway's Joint chiefs of staff

Joint Chiefs of Staff

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...

 (fellesstaben i Forsvaret) in 2005.

She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from 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...

 in 1993, and was re-elected on two occasions as a representative for 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...

.

Since 2006 she is the secretary-general of the Norwegian Trekking Association. She is married and has two children.

She has a Master of Science

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 Degree in Business from the Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, 1985. She minored in sociology at the University of Bergen

University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...

 in 1986.

Political career

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, Krohn Devold was Minister of Defence

Minister of Defence (Norway)

The Norwegian Minister of Defence is a Councillor of the Council of State and Chief of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the position has existed since the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Navy was combined into the Minister of Defence...

. During this term her seat in parliament was taken by Hans Gjeisar Kjæstad

Hans Gjeisar Kjæstad

Hans Gjeisar Kjæstad is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party.He served as a deputy representative in the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo during the terms 1997–2001, 2001–2005 and 2005–2009...

. Krohn Devold was mentioned as a possible candidate for the position of Secretary General of NATO after George Robertson

George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen

George Islay MacNeill Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, is a British Labour Party politician who was the tenth Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, between October 1999 and early January 2004; he succeeded Javier Solana in that position...

, but eventually lost out to Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as the 11th Secretary General of NATO from January 5, 2004 until August 1, 2009....

.

On the local level Krohn Devold was a member of 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...

 city council from 1991 to 1993.

Controversy

The Norwegian Trekking Association made an exception to their rules about sponsoring, resulting in the sponsoring of a daughter of Devold, and her student friends, with 5 000 Norwegian kroner in 2011. (The sponsorship was part of a deal where the organization would receive advertising on the side of a bus used for celebrating the forthcoming end of the secondary schooling of the group of friends.) The organization reversed that decision about sponsoring, later in 2011.