Geir Axelsen is a Norwegian civil servant and politician for the Norwegian 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....

.

Early life

Born in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

, he has a cand.oecon.

Cand.oecon.

Candidatus oeconomices or Candidata oeconomices , often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Danish and Norwegian universities. It is roughly equivalent to a Master of Economics, but it consists of 4+2 years, and was based on a four year cand.mag.. The degree was replaced...

 degree from the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 in 1994 and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 2004.

Career

He started his political career in the Workers' Youth League

Workers' Youth League (Norway)

The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...

, and chaired that organization's chapter in Oslo from 1987 to 1988. He worked as party secretary for the Labour Party in Oslo from 1994 to 1997, when he was hired in the Ministry of Finance

Norwegian Ministry of Finance

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Finance is a Norwegian ministry established in 1814. The ministry is responsible for state finance, including the state budget, taxation and economic policy in Norway. It is led by Sigbjørn Johnsen...

. In 2005 he became counsellor of the Norwegian embassy in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

.

When the second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

 assumed office following the 2005 election

Norwegian parliamentary election, 2005

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 12 September 2005. More than 3.4 million Norwegians were eligible for vote for the Storting, the parliament of Norway. The new Storting has 169 members, an increase of four over the 2001 election....

, he was appointed State Secretary

State Secretary (Norway)

In Norway, a State Secretary is a partisan political position within the executive branch of government. Contrary to the position Secretary of State in many other countries, the Norwegian State Secretary does not head his or her Ministry, rather, they are second in rank to a Minister...

in the Ministry of Finance.