Sven Olaf Bjarte Høiby was the father of Crown Princess Mette-Marit

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway , is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway.-Background and education:...

 of Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Høiby worked for several years as a journalist in a local newspaper and as a small-scale advertiser and publisher in his hometown. After his daughter married the Crown Prince, he became a minor celebrity in the yellow press

Yellow journalism

Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...

, especially Se og Hør.

He and Mette-Marit's mother, Marit Tjessem, were divorced in 1984. After the divorce Mette-Marit grew up with her mother, while visiting her father regularly on weekends.

Sven O. Høiby became something of a controversial figure following his daughter's marriage to the Crown Prince

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway is the heir apparent to the throne of Norway. On birth he was named Prince Haakon Magnus but it was stressed in the announcement that he would go by the name Haakon. He became Crown Prince Haakon when his father ascended to the crown as Harald V in 1991...

. The national tabloids and especially the gossip magazine Se og Hør printed several stories where he gave interviews and was presented in less than flattering situations.

A book recently published by a former Se og Hør journalist revealed that Høiby was being paid upwards to 400,000 NOK a year by the magazine to appear in stories.

During this period he made several outspoken comments, and he announced that he was writing a book about Mette-Marit's young son, Marius, her child from a previous relationship. The book never materialised, but the relationship between father and daughter had been strained by this, and Høiby giving information about her to the tabloids. Høiby further estranged himself from his daughter by marrying Renate Barsgård, a former stripper half his age. The couple divorced after three months. At their wedding, folk singer Sputnik

Sputnik (singer)

Knut T. Storbukås , more commonly known by his stage name, Sputnik, is a musician and truck driver from Bostrak in the village of Tørdal which is in the municipality of Drangedal, Telemark...

 was best man.

The magazine and other tabloids have been criticized for taking advantage of a man who seemed to have a less than sound judgment on what kind of articles to participate in. In the book "En helt vanlig dag på jobben" ("A completely ordinary day at work") journalist Håvard Melnæs revealed that as Høiby had financial problems he never said no to any suggestions from Se og Hør.

Father and daughter had reportedly reconciled some time before his death and he was among other events invited to attend the baptism of Princess Ingrid Alexandra

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway

Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is the daughter of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and second in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne.-Biography:...

 in 2004.

August 25, 2006, Høiby told Se og Hør that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...

 and he died on March 21, 2007, aged 70. Høiby is buried at Kristiansand cemetery together with his parents.

In his younger days, he participated in athletics. Among others, he achieved the time 58.0 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles

400 metres hurdles

The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly...

 in 1959. He represented the club Kristiansands IF

Kristiansands IF

Kristiansands Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club from Kristiansand, founded in 1921. It has sections for athletics and handball.The athletics team uses the stadium Kristiansand Stadion....

.