Wenche Karin Nistad is a Norwegian businessperson and civil servant.

She hails from Sande i Sunnfjord

Sande, Sogn og Fjordane

Sande is the administrative centre of the municipality of Gaular in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located along the Gaula River, about from where the river meets the Dalsfjorden. The village of Sande has a population of 637.The Førde Airport, Bringeland is located about north of...

. She took her siv.øk.

Siviløkonom

Siviløkonom is an academic degree issued within the field of business administration and economics and a professional title in Norway , obtained after 5 years of studies...

 degree at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration in 1976, and worked in Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri

Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri

Norsk Elektrisk & Brown Boveri A/S also known as NEBB was a Norwegian manufacturing company, which built a large amount of the rolling stock that is used by Norges Statsbaner. The plant was located at Skøyen. In 1988 it merged into Asea Brown Boveri ....

 from 1976 to 1984. She was the director of Bergen Bank

Bergen Bank

Bergen Bank was a Norwegian commercial bank in existence between 1975 and 1990. It was created as a merger between Bergens Privatbank and Bergens Kreditbank while the bank Kvam Privatbank was acquired in 1979. In 1988 it bought Nevi. Bergen Bank, which was based in Bergen, Norway, merged with Den...

 from 1984, and in Den norske Bank

Den norske Bank

Den norske Bank or DnB was a Norwegian bank that existed between 1990 and 2003 when it merged with Gjensidige NOR to form the present DnB NOR...

 after the 1990 merger. From 1994 to 2003 she was the CEO of Luxo

Luxo

Luxo ASA is a Norwegian manufacturer of lamps. Based in Oslo, it has sales throughout Europe and North America, with production plants in Norway, Sweden and California, United States. The company was founded in 1934 and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange....

. She then went on to Hadeland Glassverk

Hadeland Glassverk

Hadeland Glassverk is situated in Jevnaker, Oppland 40 km north of Oslo, at the southern tip of lake Randsfjorden.The glass works was founded in 1762 on land belonging to the Mo estate. Production started in 1765. At the time Norway did not have the necessary skilled craftsmen, and these were...

, but resigned in 2004 after a tenure of only thirteen months. Dagens Næringsliv

Dagens Næringsliv

Dagens Næringsliv, commonly known as DN, is a Norwegian tabloid specializing in business reporting with a claimed daily circulation of 82,775 copies in 2008, making it the 8th largest newspaper in Norway. The editor in chief is Amund Djuve. Its name is Norwegian for "Today's Business".Originally...

speculated that there was a conflict with owner Atle Brynestad. On 1 June 2005 Nistad assumed office as director of the Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits

Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits

The Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits is a Norwegian government agency.It was established in 1960 with the purpose of granting guarantees for Norwegian export companies. It was a state aid to exporters who ran possible commercial risks or political risks...

.