Øystein Rottem was a Norwegian philologist, literary historian and literary critic.

He was born in Heim

Heim, Norway

Heim is a village and former municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality included most of the area around the Hemnefjord. The village of Heim is located in the present-day municipality of Hemne, just east of Hellandsjøen...

, and graduated from the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 in 1976 with the cand.philol. degree. He was a literary critic for the newspaper Dagbladet

Dagbladet

Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....

from 1984, and is regarded among the most important and influential literary critics in Norway over a period of two decades. Before Dagbladet he had worked for Ny Tid

Ny Tid

Ny Tid is Norway's only international news magazine, published in Newsweek-format every Friday. Politically, its history and editorial line is on the left side of the political spectrum and, until its recent sale, it was founded and owned by the Socialist Left Party of Norway...

and Arbeiderbladet. He also contributed to Norsk biografisk leksikon

Norsk biografisk leksikon

Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia.The first edition was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles...

.

His most widespread works as a literary historian are the three last volumes of Norsk Litteraturhistorie, covering the period after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Fra Brekke

Paal Brekke

Paal Brekke was a Norwegian lyricist, novelist, translator of poetry, and literary critic. Brekke fled from occupied Norway to Sweden in 1940, when he was 17 years old. He made his literary debut in 1942, with the poetry collection Av din jord er vi til...

 til Mehren

Stein Mehren

Stein Mehren is a Norwegian poet, author, essayist and playwright. He made his literary debut as lyricist with Gjennom stillheten en natt...

 1945–1965 (volume 6, published 1995), Inn i medietidsalderen 1965–1980 (volume 7, 1997) and Vår egen tid 1980–1998 (volume 8, 1998). He lectured at the University of Tromsø

University of Tromsø

The University of Tromsø is the world's northernmost university. Located in the city of Tromsø, Norway, it was established in 1968, and opened in 1972. It is one of eight universities in Norway. The University of Tromsø is the largest research and educational institution in northern Norway...

 and from 1985 to 1991 at the University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

, and spent one year from 1991 to 1992 as a visiting scholar at the University of Vienna

University of Vienna

The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

. He died in 2004 in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

.