Kristian Welhaven

Kristian Welhaven
Kristian Welhaven, ca. 1930–40
Born	(1883-10-11)11 October 1883 Kristiania
Died	27 July 1975(1975-07-27) (aged 91) Oslo
Nationality	Norwegian
Occupation	Chief of Police Jurist
Known for	Chief of Police in Oslo for 27 years
Home town	Oslo
Spouse(s)	Margit Aagaard (m. 1917)
Awards	Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav Commander of the Order of Dannebrog Order of Vasa Order of the Polar Star

Kristian Welhaven (11 October 1883 – 27 July 1975) was a Norwegian police officer. He was chief of police of Oslo for 27 years, from 1927 to 1954. He was a leading force in establishing an organized Norwegian intelligence service before World War II, and in re-establishing it after the war. During the war years Welhaven was arrested by the Germans and imprisoned in both Norway and Germany, before spending the remainder of the war as a civilian internee in Bavaria.

Welhaven was born in Kristiania as the son of parish priest Johan Andreas Welhaven (1825–1893) and his wife Gerda Kathinka Elisabeth Hansen (1857–1948). He married Margit Aagaard on 12 October 1917 in Kristiania. He was a nephew of poet Johan Sebastian Welhaven, writer Elisabeth Welhaven and culture personality Maren Sars (married to Michael Sars, and mother of Georg Ossian Sars, Ernst Sars and Eva Nansen). In addition to these three he was a first cousin of Hjalmar Welhaven. He died in Oslo in 1975.

Welhaven finished his secondary education at the Kristiania Cathedral School in 1901. He studied at the Norwegian Military Academy (Norwegian: Krigsskolen) from 1901 to 1902, and then law at the Royal Frederick University, graduating with the cand.jur. degree in 1907. He worked in Tana, Tromsø and Kristiania until he was appointed Chief of Police in Rjukan in 1916. He became Chief of Police of Oslo in 1927, and held this position until 1954, except for the war years.