Biography
Mr. Kjetil Nilsen
Kjetil Nilsen has extensive experience from the senior management level in the Norwegian security and intelligence services, and from the Norwegian Police. Through his time in public service, he has been heavily involved in sector reforms.
At present, he is a Special Advisor in the Ministry of Defence, where he is assigned to the Centre for Integrity in the Defence and Security Sector (CIDS) as member of the staff and Senior International Expert.
From 2009 to 2021, he was the Director General of the National Security Authority (NSM), which is a cross-sectoral directorate under both the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Justice. As Director General, Nilsen was responsible for national tasks within risk assessment, security management, cyber security, critical infrastructure and personnel security, and for following up and checking compliance with the National Security Act.
Nilsen has held various operational and administrative leadership positions in the Police, both nationally and locally. He has held all ranks up to and including Chief of Police. From 2002 to 2008, he held the position of Director of Operations in the Police Security Service (PST), with responsibility for national tasks within counter-terrorism, counter-intelligence and threat assessments. Prior to this, he had responsibility for agency management, governance and reforms in the national police force. Nilsen joined the Police in 1982 and he has work experience as operational police officer and investigator. Nilsen has also experience as a Police Prosecutor.
During his time in the Police and the security and intelligence services he has gained extensive international experience. Early in his professional career, he served in the Norwegian Army, and had a tour in Lebanon with UN forces (UNIFIL) as Military Police (1. Lt).
Nilsen also has experience as a lawyer in private sector, and as an advisor in the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, where he has worked with governance, emergency preparedness, security and IT-related issues.
Nilsen has military officer training (army/infantry) and is a National Police Academy graduate. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M / Candidatus Juris) from the University of Oslo and a Master's Degree in Management from BI Norwegian Business School with focus on HRM, Organizational Psychology, Organizational development, Leadership and leadership development. He has also attended the Senior Course at NATO Defence College in Rome, Italy. He has attended several leadership trainings programs.