Thorbjørn Thoresen

Director General Norwegian Defence Estates Agency

Thorbjørn Thoresen is the Director General of Norwegian Defence Estates Agency NDEA (Forsvarsbygg). NDEA is a government administrative agency under the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry of Defence is the Government Office with responsibility for the formation and implementation of Norwegian security and defence policy, through four separate agencies: The Norwegian Armed Forces, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency and the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency. NDEA is responsible for the development, building, maintenance and operation of all real estate infrastructure for the defence sector through peacetime, crisis, and war. The portfolio of infrastructure consists of 4.1 million square meters of properties, buildings, and other facilities, ranging from modern facilities to historical castles, from homes to training areas and firing ranges and exercise infrastructure for domestic as well as NATO and allied training and exercise. NDEA is the largest public estate agency in Norway. NDEA is structured in five key divisions, representing its core activities: Infrastructure Projects and development, Property and facility management, Procurement and contracting, a share Resource centre, and Operations and readiness, which was established early 2025. Mr. Thoresen was appointed Director General by King in Council in august 2016 and re-appointed for a second term in 2022. As Director General he is the top executive for all operations at the agency, reporting directly to the Ministry of Defence. After being appointed, Mr. Thoresen restructured the agency into a more modern and effective infrastructure delivery, reducing administrative costs and utilizing resources across the agency. The new structure enables the agency’s divisions to increase co-operation internally as well as with the Norwegian Armed Forces and other agencies, enabling improved processes within infrastructure investment processes as well as ongoing operations. Mr. Thoresen holds a law degree from the University of Oslo (JD/LLM). Previous experience includes executive positions at Oslo Public Transportation Group, Axiti ASA, DnB ASA and the Norwegian Defence Communication and Data Administration. He is currently serving as a member of the Norwegian State Employer Council, as well as being a member of the CEO reference group for digitalization of the construction industry and Chairman of the Board at Mansbach Foundation Fredriksten castle.