Kjeld Olesen

Kjeld Olesen was a Danish Social Democratic politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark from 1979 to 1982.

Career

In 1955, Olesen was part of the CIA team that secretly listened in on the leftist politicians Ragnhild Andersen and Alfred Jensen. He also worked in a private intelligence organisation called Arbejdernes Informations Central, financed by the labour movement. Its employers were members of the Social Democratic Party. Later, Olesen became a member of Parliament 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.

Kjeld Støttrup Olesen was born on 8 July 1932 in Copenhagen to Anker Olesen and Severa Madsen. His father, Anker, was among the resistance members against Nazi Germany during World War II. In 1962, he married Hanne Vibeke Hansen at Hadsund Church. He remarried in 1992 to Lis Holm, a teacher.
Olesen died on 25 July 2024, at the age of 92.