Svein Efjestad

Senior adviser
Svein-1-1.png

Svein Efjestad graduated from The University of Oslo in 1980 (Political Science, International Law and History). He held a scholarship at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Affairs (NUPI) from 1978 – 1980.

He joined the Ministry of Defence in 1981 and Norwegian delegation to NATO form 1986-1990.In NATO Efjestad worked on policy issues related to defence and nuclear planning.
Returning to the Ministry of Defence in 1990, Efjestad was appointed Head of Division, in charge of The Security Policy Office. In 1991, Efjestad was promoted to Deputy Director General in The Security Policy Department.

From 1995 – 2013 Efjestad served as  Director General for Security Policy at the Ministry of Defence. From 2013 Efjestad was policy director at the same ministry.
Efjestad has been representing Norway in a number of committees in NATO, including the High Level Group and the Senior Official Group. Ha has chaired many bilateral and regional committees including the bilateral US - Norwegian Study Group and the Nordic Policy Steering Committee.

He has also been a member of committees dealing with coordination of intelligence in Norway. Efjestad was chairing the Norwegian Coast Guard Council for more than 20 years.
He has lectured at several Norwegian and International Institutions on defence and security issues.

In 2014 Efjestad was awarded “Das Ehrenkreutz der Bundeswehr in Gold” from the German Minister of Defence. Also in 2014, Efjestad was appointed Commander of “Finlands Lejons Orden”. He was awarded the Medal of Merit of the Norwegian Navy in 2021

Efjestad retired from the MOD in August 2022 and is now a senior adviser at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

Projects All projects

Articles All articles