Gro Brækken

Brækken was born in Narvik and spent her youth in Mo i Rana, Moss, and Trondheim. She graduated with a MSc in Chemical Engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1975.

Brækken's career spans several industries and leadership positions. She started her career at Norske Shell (1976–1982), followed by a role as Head of Dept. Gas Sales Administration at Statoil in Stavanger (1982–1988). She then served as the CEO of Ulstein International (1988–1990), where she was responsible for ship design, international sales, and marketing. Her tenure at Den norske Bank (1990–1994) included the position of Regional Managing Director for Oslo & Akershus private market.

In 1994, Brækken joined the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) as Deputy Managing Director, where she was in charge of trade and international policies. She significantly contributed to the areas of tax, trade laws, environment, education policies, and R&D until 1999.

Brækken's leadership extended to the non-profit sector as the Secretary-General of Save the Children in Norway from 1999 to 2009, where she managed to double the revenue and facilitated a major international merger. In 2010, she became the CEO of the Norwegian Oil and Gas, a position she held until 2015.

From 2016 to 2023, Brækken served as the Managing Director/CEO of the Norsk institutt for styremedlemmer (Norwegian Institute for board members).

Brækken currently resides in Oslo. She is married to Ingvald Fergestad and has three children.