Olav Gjærevoll

Who was Olav Gjærevoll?

Olav Gjærevoll was a Norwegian botanist and politician for the Labour Party. Gjærevoll was a professor of botany at the University of Trondheim from 1958 to 1986, and was a specialist in alpine plants.

He was born in Tynset.

He held a variety of minister positions in different Norwegian cabinets. He was Minister of Social Affairs in 1963 and 1963–1965, interrupted by the short-lived cabinet Lyng, Minister of Wages and Prices in the first cabinet Bratteli 1971–1972 and then the first Minister of the Environment in 1972.

As an elected politician he was elected to the Storting from Sør-Trøndelag in 1965. He had previously served in the position of deputy representative during the terms 1958–1961 and 1961–1965. On the local level he was a member of Trondheim city council from 1951 to 1963, 1967 to 1968 and 1979 to 1987, serving as mayor for two periods 1958–1963 and 1979–1981.