Olaf Solumsmoen was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician for the Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

.

He was born in Sigdal

Sigdal

Sigdal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Prestfoss. -Background:...

, and decided to be a stenographer. He was hired in the Labour Party newspaper Fremtiden

Fremtiden

Fremtiden was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Drammen.Fremtiden was started in 1905. Its first editor was Torgeir Vraa, who edited the newspaper from its start until his death in 1934. Fremtiden became the main organ for tne Norwegian Labour Party in Buskerud. During the 1980s the newspaper had...

in Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

, where he also was involved in local politics. He eventually left stenography to become a journalist. He worked as chief editor for the Labour Party press office Arbeidernes Pressekontor

Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå

Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå is a Norwegian news agency that was established in 1912 as Socialdemokratisk Pressekontor. In 1919 this was changed to Arbeidernes Pressekontor and in 1984 it was changed again to A-pressens Oslo-redaksjon...

 from 1931 to 1946. During the Nazi occupation of Norway from 1940 to 1945, an underground newspaper was published titled Bulletinen

Bulletinen

Bulletinen was an underground newspaper in Norway during World War II. Its first issue came in November 1940, and the publication continued until the end of the war. The name Bulletinen was adapted in November 1944...

. The first editors were Olaf Solumsmoen and Olav Larssen

Olav Larssen

Olav Larssen was a Norwegian newspaper editor.He was a typographer by education. He edited the Labour Party newspapers Demokraten in Hamar from 1920 to 1927, and Hamar Arbeiderblad from 1927 to 1935. In 1935 he was hired as a journalist in Arbeiderbladet...

 . Both men were arrested and imprisoned. Solumsmoen was imprisoned at Grini concentration camp (Norwegian: Grini fangeleir) from 27 January 1942 to the end of the war, 8 May 1945.

From 1946 Solumsmoen worked as "night editor" of Arbeiderbladet, the primary Labour Party newspaper. In 1948 he was hired as secretary for Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Norway

The Prime Minister of Norway is the political leader of Norway and the Head of His Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Stortinget , to their political party, and ultimately the...

 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...

. From 1956 to 1965, during the third

Third cabinet Gerhardsen

Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet governed Norway between 22 January 1955 and 28 August 1963. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Einar Gerhardsen. It had the following composition:-Cabinet members:-State Secretaries:-References:* - Regjeringen.no...

 and fourth cabinet Gerhardsen

Fourth cabinet Gerhardsen

Gerhardsen's Fourth Cabinet governed Norway between 25 September 1963 and 12 October 1965. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Einar Gerhardsen. It had the following composition:-Cabinet members:-State Secretaries:-References:* - Regjeringen.no...

, Solumsmoen served as state secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister

Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister

The Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister is a political and bureaucratic office that assists the Cabinet of Norway and the Prime Minister of Norway in the leadership of the Cabinet and Government. It has since 2005 been led by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg . Minister and Chief of Staff is Karl...

. The tenure was only interrupted by the cabinet Lyng

Cabinet Lyng

Lyng's Cabinet governed Norway between 28 August 1963 and 25 September 1963. It was the first in 28 years not to be led by the Norwegian Labour Party. It was a centre-right coalition government of the Conservative Party, Centre Party, Christian Democratic Party and Liberal Party led by John Lyng...

 administration, which reigned for a month in 1963. He died in 1972 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...

.

Other sources

• Giertsen, Børre R. (1946) Norsk fangeleksikon. Grinifangene
  Norsk fangeleksikon. Grinifangene
  Norsk fangeleksikon. Grinifangene is a Norwegian biographical dictionary with details on prisoners incarcerated at the Grini concentration camp between 1941 and 1945....
  
  (Oslo: J.W. Cappelens Forlag)
• Ottosen, Kristian
  Kristian Ottosen
  Kristian Ottosen was a Norwegian non-fiction writer and public servant.While still a student, he was also active in the Norwegian resistance movement during World War II and was imprisoned as a Nacht und Nebel inmate...
  
  (2004) Nordmenn i fangenskap 1940–1945 (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget) ISBN 82-15-00288-9.