Ann-Kristin Olsen

Ann-Kristin Olsen (born 29 March 1945) is a Norwegian jurist and civil servant. Known as the first female chief of police in Norway, and the first female Governor of Svalbard, she has served as County Governor of Vest-Agder since 1998.

She was born in shortly before the end of World War II; her mother chose to give birth here due to the wartime German occupation of Norway. The family soon moved to Kristiansand, and Olsen grew up here. After finishing her secondary education at Kristiansand Cathedral School in 1965, she enrolled in law studies, graduating with the Cand.jur. degree in 1972. In her young days, she reportedly attended the first International Women's Day parade in Oslo.

She worked as a deputy judge in Indre Follo District Court from 1975 to 1976, and after switching to the local police force, she became the first female police inspector in the district. In 1983 she became the first female chief of police in the whole of Norway, stationed in the city of Halden. In this position she was responsible for investigating the large murder case in Tistedalen.

From 1995 to 1998 she was Norway's Governor of Svalbard, again being the first woman to hold the position. She had to cope with several accidents, including the consuming of her headquarters by fire, the 1996 Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801 disaster and the Barentsburg mining disaster of 1997. In 1998, at the expiration of her pre-designated period, she was appointed as the new County Governor of Vest-Agder. In 2006 she was decorated as a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for her work.

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