Otto Grieg Tidemand

Otto Grieg Tidemand
Otto Grieg Tidemand
	Tidemand with Robert McNamara in 1966.
Minister of Defence
	In office; 12 October 1965 – 5 June 1970
Prime Minister	Per Borten
Preceded by	Gudmund Harlem
Succeeded by	Gunnar Hellesen
Minister of Trade and Shipping
	In office; 5 June 1970 – 17 March 1971
Prime Minister	Per Borten
Preceded by	Kåre Willoch
Succeeded by	Per Kleppe
Personal details
Born	18 June 1921; Oslo, Norway
Died	10 June 2006 (aged 84); Oslo, Norway
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Karin Lorentzen (m. 1948)

Otto Grieg Tidemand (18 June 1921, Oslo – 10 June 2006, Oslo) was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Defence from 1965 to 1970 and Minister of Trade and Shipping from 1970 to 1971.

Military service

During the Second World War, he served as a fighter pilot with the Royal Norwegian Air Force from 1942 to 1946, after training at a flying school in Canada.^[1] He was posted to No. 332 Squadron RAF (known as the Norwegian Squadron). While a sergeant pilot under training in England on 8 June 1943, he crashlanded his training plane near Ellesmere, Shropshire but survived unhurt. He flew Spitfires on offensive sweeps in Northwestern Europe and was credited with destroying one German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and sharing in the downing of a Messerschmitt 410.^[2]

Political career

From 1965 to 5 June 1970 he served as the Minister of Defence during the Per Borten cabinet. On that date, he was appointed Minister of Trade and Shipping, which he held until the Borten cabinet fell in 1971.^[1]

Business career

He held numerous board memberships in Norwegian corporations, notably serving as chairman of the board of Saga Petroleum (1972-1976), Atlas Copco Norway (1978-1997), Vesta Hygea (1984-1986), Fina Norway (1981-1996) and Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani (1982-1987).^[1] He was a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Group^[3] and participated in all their yearly conferences between 1967 and 1980 as well as in 1982 and 1984.

Decorations

Haakon VII 70th Anniversary Medal 1943
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) 1944
War Medal (Norway) 1944
St. Olav's Medal with Oak Branch 1945
Defence Medal 1940-1945 1945
Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1970
Commander of the Order of the Polar Star (Sweden) (first class) 1990
Commander of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) 1997^[1]

Sports interests

Tidemand was president of the Norwegian Golf Federation from 1962 to 1965.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Tidemand, Otto Grieg". Stortinget. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
^ Thorne, Thomas (2013). Pancakes & Prangs: Twentieth-Century Military Aircraft Accidents in Shropshire. Bridge Books. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-84494-087-5.
^ "Former Steering Committee Members". bilderbergmeetings.org. Bilderberg Group. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-02-08.

Preceded by Gudmund Harlem	Minister of Defence (Norway) 1965–1970	Succeeded by Gunnar Hellesen
Preceded by Kåre Willoch	Minister of Trade and Shipping (Norway) 1970–1971	Succeeded by Per Andreas Kleppe