Reiulf Steen is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 politician for the Norwegian 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 active in the Norwegian 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....

 from 1958 to 1990, serving as deputy party chairman from 1965 to 1975 and chairman from 1975 to 1981.

Steen was elected leader of the regional Labour Party affiliate at age 14. He started out his professional career as a factory worker but soon took a job as a journalist in the 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:...

. He rose quickly through the ranks of his party, chairing the Workers' Youth League

Workers' Youth League (Norway)

The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...

 from 1961 to 1964.

He later served as minister of transportation 1971–1972 and minister of commerce and trade 1979–1981. From 1977 to 1993 he was a member of Parliament, representing the constituencies 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...

 and 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...

.
He was the vice president of the Socialist International

Socialist International

The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...

 from 1978 to 1983 and chaired its committee on Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 from 1975 to 1990. He maintained a long-standing interest in Latin America and was appointed Norwegian ambassador to Chile in 1992, a tenure that lasted until 1996.

In later years, his memoirs and personal recollections have affected public opinion. He has related accounts of his own psychiatric problems, difficulties within the Labour Party, and other contemporary issues. He has also written columns for several of the country's leading newspapers, dealing with matters such as the EU, the war in Iraq, and the shift to the right of his party in recent years. He has also been active in ATTAC and chaired the Norwegian branch of the European Movement

European Movement

The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it.-History:...

 (1999–2001), Norsk Folkehjelp

Norsk Folkehjelp

Norwegian People's Aid is a non-governmental organization, founded in 1939 as the Norwegian Labour Movement's humanitarian organisation for solidarity.NPA’s vision is: Solidarity in Action...

 (1999–2003) and the Norwegian branch of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

The Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords...

(1986–1992).