Berit Svendsen facts for kids
Berit Svendsen was born on April 7, 1963, in Norway. She is a talented engineer and a leader in the business world. She used to be a top boss at Telenor, which is a huge company that provides phone and internet services. From 2011 to 2018, she was a vice president for the whole Telenor Group and also led Telenor Norway.
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About Berit Svendsen
Berit Svendsen was born in Frederikstad, Norway. She grew up on an island called Kråkerøy. When she was in high school, she loved math and physics. This led her to study engineering.
Her Education and Early Career
In 1983, Berit went to Trondheim to study engineering. She spent five years at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. There, she earned a master's degree in electronics. Later, in 1995, she got another master's degree. This one was in technology management. She studied at the Norwegian Institute of Technology and also at the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
In 1988, Berit started working at Telenor. She began as a research scientist. She was very interested in how phones and the internet could connect people.
Rising Through the Ranks at Telenor
After finishing her studies at MIT, Berit started getting promoted at Telenor. She became a leader in different parts of the company. In 1999, she worked on a special project to combine fixed-line phones and mobile phones. This was a big step forward!
By 2000, she became the technology director for all of Telenor's departments. She held this important job for five years. In 2005, she became a Vice President. She was in charge of Telenor's fixed-line services in the Nordic countries.
From 2002 to 2007, Berit was part of an important group. This group advised the European Commission on how technology could help society. In 2008, she briefly led a company called Conax, which Telenor owned.
In September 2011, she returned to Telenor. She became an Executive Vice President for the Telenor Group. She also became the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Telenor Norway. This meant she was the main boss for Telenor's operations in Norway. She held these big roles until September 2018.
Other Leadership Roles
Berit Svendsen has also served on the boards of other companies. Since 2011, she has been on the board of DNB. This is a large banking and financial services group. She was also on the board of EMGS from 2007. This company helps oil and gas companies with technical support.
Berit's Personal Life
Berit Svendsen is married to Erik Østbye. He also works at Telenor. They have two children whom they adopted from Chile.
When she's not working, Berit enjoys several hobbies. She loves cooking, especially Thai food. She also likes swimming in the sea and doing water aerobics. Reading and learning about history are other favorite pastimes. She enjoys relaxing at her summerhouse, which is on one of the beautiful Hvaler islands in Norway.
