Knut Hedemann was a Norwegian diplomat.

He was born in Ringsaker

Ringsaker

is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Brumunddal.The municipality of Ringsaker was established on 1 January 1838...

 as a son of politician Rudolf Hedemann

Rudolf Hedemann

Rudolf Hedemann was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.He was born in Stange as a son of railway foreman Reinhart Hedemann . He was married to Kristiane Bjørgås , and was the father of Knut and Reidar Hedemann...

 and younger brother of journalist Reidar Hedemann. He finished his secondary education in 1943. During the Second World War he was a member of the Norwegian police troops

Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II

The Norwegian police troops in Sweden during World War II consisted of around 13,000 troops, recruited from Norwegian refugees and trained at a number of secret camps in Sweden.-Background:...

 in exile in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, having fled from Norway in 1944. After studying in the US from 1946 to 1947 he took the cand.jur. degree at 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 1948. In the same year he married physician's daughter Gro Ranveig Hansen.

He started working for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the foreign ministry of the Kingdom of Norway...

 as a secretary in 1949. He served as an embassy secretary in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 (the embassy to NATO and OEEC), before becoming assistant secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1958 and sub-director in 1961. In the 1960s he was a chargé d'affaires

Chargé d'affaires

In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...

 in Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, and an embassy councellor in Sweden. He was promoted to deputy under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1969, but went on to be chargé d'affaires in Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 in 1972. He served as the Norwegian ambassador to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 from 1975 to 1978, to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from 1979 to 1984 and to Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 from 1984 to 1990.

He received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and was a Knight of the Order of the Polar Star

Order of the Polar Star

The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....

 and the Order of Homayoun. He was decorated as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1979. He died in 2011.