Arne Rettedal

Who was Arne Rettedal?

Arne Rettedal was Norwegian engineer, businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party. He is best known as the Minister of Local Government and Labour from 1981 to 1986, mayor of Stavanger from 1965 to 1967 and 1972 to 1981 and county mayor of Rogaland from 1988 to 1991.

He was born in Madla as a son of farmer Ola Rettedal and Rakel Kristine Berge. He finished his secondary education in 1947, and enrolled at the Norwegian Institute of Technology where he graduated in engineering in 1957. He worked four years as an engineer before he started his own consulting company. Within local politics, he was a member of Madla municipal council from 1960 to 1964, serving as mayor in the last year. From 1965 to 1981 he was a member of Stavanger city council, serving as mayor from 1965 to 1967 and 1972 to 1981. He was also a member of Rogaland county council from 1967 to 1981, serving as deputy county mayor from 1967 to 1971. As a politician in Stavanger and Rogaland, he is co-credited with bringing the headquarters of Statoil and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to Stavanger. He was a member of Statoil's corporate council from 1975.