Asbjørn Sjøthun was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party

Norwegian Labour Party

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....

.

He was born in Balsfjord

Balsfjord

Balsfjord is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Storsteinnes, while Nordkjosbotn at the head of the fjord is another village....

, and took a one-year agricultural education at Gibostad

Gibostad

Gibostad is a village on Senja island in the municipality of Lenvik in Troms county, Norway. Its population is 348. Gibostad is a former trading centre, located about north of the Gisund Bridge. Many of the buildings in the harbour area are about 200 years old...

. He then worked as a farmer, agronomist and in forestry. He was a member of Balsfjord municipal council from 1955 to 1971, serving as mayor from 1962 to 1969.

He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

 in 1969

Norwegian parliamentary election, 1969

The 1969 election proved to be one of the closest ones in Norwegian history. The only leftist party to win seats, the Labour Party, got 74 seats, while the right-wing parties got 76 seats. When counting the results, people started worrying that the two sides would be evenly split with 75 seats...

, and was re-elected on four occasions, his last term ending in 1989. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the terms 1961–1965 and 1965–1969. He was a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture for all his five terms, serving two terms as secretary and one term (his last term) as leader. He was also a member of the Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence

Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence

The Enlarged Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence is a special committee of the Parliament of Norway. It holds non-disclosed discussions with the government regarding important issues of foreign affairs, trade policy and security issues. Other issues are discussed in the Standing Committee on...

 for three terms and the Election Committee

Election Committee (Parliament of Norway)

The Election Committee ) is a special committee of the Parliament of Norway. The 37 members are responsible for allocating the members of parliament in the various standing and special committees and to allocate the members of the presidium. The committee is also used to conduct elections....

 for three terms.

He was also a member and deputy chair of the supervisory council of the Norwegian Forest Owners Association

Norwegian Forest Owners Association

Norwegian Forest Owners Association is an association representing 43,000 owners of forest in Norway. The main functions of the organisation is to assist the members, who are mostly farmers, to manage their forest. This includes forestry plans, part of the cutting of timer and negotiating...

between 1992 and 1995. He also held positions in the local sports club Nordkjosbotn IL. He died in March 2010.