Jonas Gahr Støre

Jonas Gahr Støre (born 25 August 1960 in Oslo) is the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, having been appointed to Jens Stoltenberg's second cabinet on 17 October 2005. He represents the Norwegian Labour Party.

Personal life

Støre is the son of ship-owner Ulf Jonas Støre and Unni Gahr. He attended Berg School in Oslo followed by naval officer training at the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy. He later studied political science at the Sciences Po in Paris. He enrolled as a PhD student at the London School of Economics, but withdrew after a few weeks, as he decided not to pursue an academic career.

He started his professional career as a teaching fellow in the Harvard Negotiation Project at Harvard Law School in 1986. This was followed by a position as researcher at the Norwegian School of Management (1986–1989) and special adviser at the Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister from 1989 to 1995. He was Director General for International Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister from 1995 to 1998, and he subsequently held the position of ambassador in the Norwegian Delegation to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

His first major international position was as Executive Director (Chief of Staff) in the World Health Organization under the leadership of Gro Harlem Brundtland. This was followed by a year as State Secretary and Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in the first cabinet Stoltenberg from 2000 to 2001. Before taking up the position as...
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