Ole Hovelsen Mustad was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. He was instrumental in shaping the company O. Mustad & Søn, and served one term in the Norwegian Parliament.

He was born in Vardal

Vardal

Vardal is a former municipality in Oppland county, Norway.It was created in 1837 as Vardal formannskapsdistrikt. According to the 1835 census the municipality had a population of 2,921...

 as the son of Kari Tollefsdatter Bjørnstad (1782-1858) and her second husband Haavel Eriksen Kaas (1784-1849).

In 1843 he took over the company Brusveen Spiger- og Staaltraadfabrikk, founded by his father-in-law Hans Schikkelstad

Hans Schikkelstad

Hans Hansen Schikkelstad was a Norwegian businessperson and politician.He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1833, representing the constituency of Kristians Amt. He served only one term....

 in 1832. It was located along the river Hunnselva

Hunnselva

Hunnselva is a river in Norway which runs from the end of Einafjorden through the village of Eina in Vestre Toten municipality, northwards through Reinsvoll, Raufoss and Hunndalen before it runs into Mjøsa in Gjøvik...

 in Vardal. Upon the takeover, Ole Mustad changed the name of the company to O. Mustad. He gradually expanded from wire and nail production to running a foundry and a sawmill. In 1874 his son Hans Mustad

Hans Mustad

Hans Mustad was a Norwegian businessperson. He was instrumental in shaping the company O. Mustad & Søn.He was born in Vardal as the son of Ole Hovelsen Mustad. He was a brother of Kristian Mauritz Mustad and uncle of Sigbjørn Mustad; both were jurists and politicians. Ole Hovelsen Mustad was a...

 became co-owner, and the company name was changed to O. Mustad & Søn. The nail production was moved to Kristiania

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 1876; instead the factory at Vardal started specializing in fish hook

Fish hook

A fish hook is a device for catching fish either by impaling them in the mouth or, more rarely, by snagging the body of the fish. Fish hooks have been employed for centuries by fishermen to catch fresh and saltwater fish. In 2005, the fish hook was chosen by Forbes as one of the top twenty tools...

 production. The company eventually became the world's largest producer of fish hooks.

Like his father-in-law, Ole Hovelsen Mustad was involved in politics. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1854, representing the constituency of Kristians Amt

Oppland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

. He only served one term. Ole Mustad was also the local police sergeant (lensmann) in Vardal from 1834 to 1857.

He died in 1884, only years before the company started expanding abroad. The company was eventually passed on to the five sons of Hans Mustad, who had been co-owners since 1905. Another of Ole Mustad's sons, Kristian Mauritz Mustad

Kristian Mauritz Mustad

Kristian Mauritz Mustad was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party.He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1883, representing the constituency of Kristians Amt. He was re-elected in 1886, 1889 and 1892....

 (1848-1913), became involved in national politics and worked as a jurist; so did his son Sigbjørn Mustad (1897-1970).