Øystein Mæland is a Norwegian psychiatrist, civil servant 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 Rjukan

Rjukan

Rjukan is a town and the administrative center of Tinn municipality in Telemark . It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between Møsvatn and Tinnsjå, and got its name after Rjukanfossen west of the town. The Tinn municipality council granted township status for Rjukan in 1996. The town has 3 386...

. He took the cand.med.

Cand.med.

Candidate of Medicine , Candidata Medicinae , abbreviated Cand. Med.) is an academic degree awarded in Denmark, Iceland and Norway following a six-year medical school education....

 degree in 1986, worked as a physician from 1989 to 1994 and 1997 to 2000, and was chief physician at Aker University Hospital

Aker University Hospital

Aker University Hospital was founded in 1895 in Oslo, Norway. From January 1, 2009, the hospital is part of the Oslo University Hospital.Since January 2002 the hospital is organized as a health trust that is fully owned by Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority and which also is...

 before becoming head of division at Ullevål University Hospital

Ullevål University Hospital

Ullevaal, Oslo University Hospital was opened in 1887. From January 1, 2009, the hospital is part of the Oslo University Hospital.Ullevål has more than 8,600 employees. 940 of them are doctors and 2,400 nurses. With a total of 1,200 beds Ullevål, admits some 45,000 patients per year and its...

 in 2002.

He was the leader of the 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...

 chapter of 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 1979 to 1982, and was a central board member from 1983 to 1989. He served as a member of Oslo city council from 1983 to 1986. During Brundtland's Second Cabinet, he was a personal secretary both in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway...

 (1988–1989) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is a Norwegian ministry responsible for energy, including petroleum and natural gas production in the North Sea. It is led by Minister of Petroleum and Energy Ola Borten Moe...

 (1988).

In 1994, during the Brundtland's Third Cabinet, Mælend was a State Secretary

State Secretary (Norway)

In Norway, a State Secretary is a partisan political position within the executive branch of government. Contrary to the position Secretary of State in many other countries, the Norwegian State Secretary does not head his or her Ministry, rather, they are second in rank to a Minister...

 in the Ministry of Justice. He kept the position for the rest of Brundtland's tenure, and then a year into Jagland's Cabinet under two different Ministers of Justice Anne Holt

Anne Holt

-Career:She was born in Larvik, grew up in Lillestrøm and Tromsø, and moved to Oslo in 1978 where she lives today with her registered partner Anne Christine Kjær and their daughter Iohanne. Holt graduated with a law degree from the University of Bergen in 1986, and worked for The Norwegian...

 and Gerd-Liv Valla

Gerd-Liv Valla

Gerd-Liv Valla was the leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions . She took over in 2001 and resigned in 2007. In 1997 she was the Norwegian Minister of Justice....

. In 2000, when another Labour cabinet Stoltenberg 1

First cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's First Cabinet governed Norway between March 17, 2000 and October 19, 2001. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. It had the following composition.-Cabinet members:-State Secretaries:-References:...

 took over, Mæland was again appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice. He held the position until after the 2001 elections

Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001

A general election to the Storting, the parliament of Norway, was held on September 10, 2001. The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and seats, closely followed by the Conservative Party...

, which caused the cabinet to fall. He was also a member of the Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission.

In 2011, Mæland was one of two applicants to the position as director of the National Police Directorate. He ended up being appointed.

Mæland is married to the psychotherapist Rolf Nicolay Aspestrand (born 1964).