Øystein Johannessen holds a postgraduate degree in Contemporary German Literature from universities in Norway and Germany. Oystein started his career as a university administrator working with student counselling and information management.

 

In the early 1990s, he began to work within distance education and further education, first at regional level and later at national level. In 1997, he joined the Norwegian School and Television and was instrumental in its start up the same year. Two years later, he joined the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Since 2001, he has held the position of Deputy Director General, and he heads a cross-departmental team responsible for ICT.

 

Oystein has extensive international experience within inter-Nordic Collaboration, from the European Union, the European Schoolnet and and is currently on secondment to the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) at the OECD.