Kjeld Olesen (8 July 1932 – 25 July 2024) was a Danish Social Democratic politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark from 1979 to 1982.

Kjeld Olesen
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
26 October 1979 – 10 September 1982
Prime MinisterAnker Jørgensen
Preceded byHenning Christophersen
Succeeded byUffe Ellemann-Jensen
Personal details
Born(1932-07-08)8 July 1932
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died25 July 2024(2024-07-25) (aged 92)
Political partySocial Democrats
Spouses
  • Hanne Vibeke Hansen (1962)
  • Lis Holm (1992)

Career

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In 1955 Olesen was part of the CIA team who secretly listened in to the leftist politicians Ragnhild Andersen and Alfred Jensen.[1] He also worked in a private intelligence organisation called Arbejdernes Informations Central (Danish: Information Centre of the Labour Movement) financed by the labour movement.[2] Its employers were members of the Social Democratic Party.[2] Later, Olesen became a member of Parliament (1966–1987) and served as deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party in the 1970s. He served in several cabinet positions, most notably as foreign minister and defence minister. Following his exit from politics, he resumed his old profession as a sailor.

Personal life and death

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Kjeld Støttrup Olesen was born 8 July 1932 in Copenhagen to Anker Olesen (1902–1955) and Severa Madsen (1908–1973).[3] His father, Anker, was among the resistance members against Nazi Germany during World War II.[1] In 1962, he married Hanne Vibeke Hansen (b. 1937) at Hadsund Church. He remarried in 1992 to Lis Holm, a teacher.[3]

Olesen died on 25 July 2024, at the age of 92.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Peer Henrik Hansen (2006). ""Upstairs and Downstairs"—The Forgotten CIA Operations in Copenhagen". International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence. 19 (4): 691–692. doi:10.1080/08850600500483715.
  2. ^ a b Sune J. Andersen; Martin Ejnar Hansen; Philip H. J. Davies (2022). "Oversight and governance of the Danish intelligence community". Intelligence and National Security. 37 (2): 248. doi:10.1080/02684527.2021.1976919.
  3. ^ a b Harding, Merete; Dybdahl, Vagn (23 April 2023). "Kjeld Olesen". Dansk Biografisk Leksikon (in Danish). Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Obituary". Danmarks Radio (in Danish).
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Political offices
Preceded by Defence Minister of Denmark
11 October 1971 – 27 September 1973
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Public Works
26 February 1977 – 30 August 1978
Succeeded by
Preceded by Foreign Minister of Denmark
26 October 1979 – 10 September 1982
Succeeded by

This article is based on the corresponding article on the Danish Wikipedia, accessed on 3 May 2006.