Peter Olaus Alvestad was a Norwegian educator and newspaper editor.

Born in Haram

Haram, Norway

Haram is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative center is Brattvåg, the industrial center of Sunnmøre. Other important villages in the municipality include Austnes, Eidsvik, Helle, Longva, Søvik, Tennfjord, and Vatne.Brattvåg IL is...

, he graduated from the teacher's college in Asker

Asker

Asker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Viken traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Asker. The municipality is a suburb of Oslo, the national capital...

 in 1888. He worked as a teacher at several schools, including Sagatun Folk High School

Sagatun folk high school

Sagatun Folk High School was a folk high school in Hamar, Norway.The first of its kind in Norway, it was founded by Herman Anker and Olaus Arvesen in 1864. The school building was erected around 1865, and drawn by architect Emil Victor Langlet. The school was disestablished in 1892, having been...

, until 1895 when he founded Voss Folk High School

Voss Folk High School

Voss Folk High School is a folk high school in Voss, Norway.It was established in 1895 by Olaus Alvestad and Lars Eskeland. It is today owned by an independent foundation....

 together with Lars Eskeland. In 1896 he bought the local newspaper Hordaland

Hordaland (newspaper)

Hordaland is a local newspaper published in Voss, Norway. It is published three days a week, and covers Ulvik, Granvin, Vaksdal and Modalen in addition to Voss. The chief editor is Sigmund Midttun....

, and became editor-in-chief. In 1898 he published the songbook Norsk Songbok for Ungdomsskular og Ungdomslag, which became very popular through the twentieth century. He left the folk high school in 1902, and died the next year.