Jørgen Watne Frydnes

Jørgen Watne Frydnes (born 26 November 1984) is a Norwegian administrator and politician.

Jørgen Watne Frydnes
Born	(1984-11-26) 26 November 1984 (age 40)[1]
Nationality	Norwegian
Awards	Fritt Ord Honorary Award (2021)

He has been a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee since 2021, and chair of the committee since 2024.

Career

Frydnes has been General Secretary of PEN Norway since 2023. He was previously the CEO of Utøya AS from 2011 to 2023.^[2] Utøya and Frydnes received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award in 2021.^[3]

In 2020 he was elected member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee for the period 2021–2026.^[4][5][6] He is a board member of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.^[7]

In February 2024, it was announced that he would become the new chair of the Nobel Committee, succeeding Berit Reiss-Andersen. With his appointment, Watne Frydnes would be the youngest person to have ever led the committee.^[8]

Criticism

In October 2024, the accounting company PwC released a report from investigation of the limited company Utøya AS, where they listed several possible violations of corporate law (Norwegian: Aksjeloven [no]) during the period when Frydnes led the company.^[9]