Management and board
Presentation of our Group Management team and Board of Directors.
Group Management
Knut Nesse
Chief Executive Officer
Knut Nesse assumed the position as CEO in November 2019. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian school of economics and business administration (NHH) and is on the Board of several companies. Previous roles include extensive CEO experience from international leading company. 6 years as CEO of Skretting Group (part of Nutreco) (2006 – 2012) and 6 years as CEO of Nutreco (2012 – 2018). Nutreco is a global animal nutrition and fish feed company. Mr. Nesse was first elected to the Board of Directors at the general meeting 9 May 2019. Mr. Nesse later stepped down from the Board to assume the position as CEO. He is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Bryne, Norway.
Ronny Meinkøhn
Chief Financial Officer
Ronny Meinkøhn assumed the position as CFO in August 2020. He came from Apply where he held the position as CFO for the past 6 years. He started his career as an auditor in EY in 2003. Mr. Meinkøhn holds an MSc in Finance from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). He is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Klepp, Norway.
Johan Fredrik Gjesdal
Chief Operating Officer Land Based
Johan Fredrik Gjesdal assumed the position as COO Land Based in October 2020. He joined AKVA group in 2017 as Vice President Strategy and Business Development. His professional experience includes management and consulting roles within strategy, M&A and operational improvement in Aker Solutions, KPMG and Accenture. Mr. Gjesdal holds a Master of Science in Industrial Economics and Technology Management from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Oslo, Norway.
Kristian Botnen
COO Sea Based Nordic
Kristian Botnen assumed the position as COO Sea Based Nordic in august 2022. He came from Lingalaks where he held the position of CEO for the past 3 years. He has experience in the salmon industry and held the position of COO in Lingalaks from 2017 to 2019. His career started in SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA as an advisor in 2007. Botnen holds an MSc and BSc from Handelshøyskolen BI Norway. He is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Norheimsund, Norway.
Stig Førre
COO Sea Based International
Stig Førre assumed the role of COO for AKVA group's International Sea Based division in July 2023. With extensive experience in the aquaculture industry, Førre held positions such as CCO and VP of Business Development at Scale AQ. He is educated at Haugesund Maritime Høyskole, and completed an Executive MBA at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). He started his career in BioMar in 1995, before entering the technology industry in 2005. He brings valuable knowledge and a passion for sustainable technologies to AKVA group's executive management team.
Asle Kjetil Bratteli
Chief Digital Officer
Asle Kjetil Bratteli assumed the position as CDO in January 2021. He came from four years in Gartner Group where he held the position as Regional Vice President Nordic. He has extensive experience from digital transformations and optimizations from several international businesses and industries. From 2006 - 2016, he worked for Nutreco & Skretting Group, amongst others in four years as the Director for the Nutreco Competence Center. Between 1984 and 2006 he worked for EDB Business Partner in technology management positions throughout various mergers. Asle Kjetil’s academic background was Economics gained at the District College of Rogaland. He is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Stavanger, Norway.
Maren Hognestad Sunde
Group HR Director
Maren Hognestad Sunde assumed the position as Group HR Director in June 2022. She joined AKVA group in 2020 as Learning & Development Manager. Her professional experience includes HR management and recruitment roles in O.Kavli AS, Expro and GE Oil & Gas. Mrs. Sunde holds a MSc in Human Resource Management from Griffith University in Australia. She is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Sandnes, Norway.
Ståle Økland
Group Director of Communications and ESG
Ståle Økland joined AKVA group in June 2021. Before that, he was a senior advisor in the Norwegian conservative party’s parliamentary group. Ståle Økland's academic background is studies in sosiology, history and German language. He started his career in the advertising industry as a copywriter with an advertising company in Stavanger, Norway. He shortly became a creative director, and later partner and managing director. In 2007 he founded a Norwegian trend agency called Domene Fem. He has been a vice mayor in Time, he is a recognised public speaker and has written seven books. Ståle Økland is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Sandnes, Norway.
Glenn Mo
Chief Operating Officer Egersund Net
Glenn Mo assumed the position as COO Egersund Net in June 2022. He has extensive experience in the production, service and maintenance of net products. He started working in the production in Egersund Trål in the early 2000s before he joined Egersund Net in 2006. Starting in the production, he later was promoted to Project Manager and Service Manager where he led all service activities in the company for six years, before taking the position as General Manager in Egersund Net between 2020-2022. He is a Norwegian citizen and resides in Egersund, Norway.
Board of Directors
Hans Kristian Mong
Chairman
Hans Kristian Mong lives in Egersund, Norway. He is Chairman of the board in Egersund Group AS. In addition, he holds Chairman positions in several companies, including Egersund Trål AS and Ok Marine AS. Mr Mong was elected to the Board of Directors at the general meeting 9 May 2012
Yoav Doppelt
Board Member
Mr. Doppelt, CEO of Israel Corp. Ltd. and executive chairman of ICL - a global producer of fertilizers and minerals. Yoav Previously served as CEO of Kenon Holdings Ltd., a global company (NYSE: KEN), and from March 2014 to September 2017 served as Executive Chairman of IC Power Ltd., a power generation company.
Prior thereto, Mr. Doppelt was the founder and CEO of the Ofer Group’s private equity fund where he was involved in numerous investments in the private equity and technology sectors. He has been the Chief Executive Officer of XT Investments since 2001. He has actively led several public offerings of equity and debt offerings in the US and Europe and he has extensive operational and global business experience with growth companies.
Mr. Doppelt also served as Chairman of OPC Energy Ltd. (TASE: OPC) as well as Director of Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. Mr. Doppelt holds a BA in Economics and Management from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Haifa University
Kristin Reitan Husebø
Board Member
Kristin Reitan Husebø lives in Stavanger, Norway. She currently works as a director at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. Previously she has held senior positions in Greater Stavanger Economic Development, Mercuri Urval, Stavanger Aftenblad, Prekubator Technology Transfer Office, Stavanger Helseforskning, Equinor ASA and SR-Finans. Kristin holds a Master of Management from the Norwegian Business School (BI). In addition, she has also attended an Executive Board program from the Scandinavian Executive Institute and INSEAD. Mrs. Reitan Husebø was elected to the Board of Directors at the general meeting on 9 May 2019.
Irene Heng Lauvsnes
Board Member
Irene Heng Lauvsnes is a Norwegian engineer in aquaculture and a local politician for the Conservative Party. She has been mayor of Strand municipality since 2015 and municipal council representative for Høyre since 2011. Lauvsnes came to the position of mayor from her job as a sales manager in Skretting. She has previously also been deputy head of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Research Fund and has several years of experience as a leader at Lerang Research Station.
Heidi Nag Flikka
Board Member
Ms Nag Flikka is CEO of Flekkefjord Sparebank. Previously, she has among others held the position as CFO in Fjord Line and Finance director and Managing director for companies within the offshore division in AF Gruppen ASA. Heidi Nag Flikka has experience as a board member from several companies such as Fjord Line, Andøya Space, Presserv Group, Sandnes Sparebank and Sparebank1 SR- Finans. Nag Flikka has a master's degree in audit and accounting from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.
Frode Teigen
Board member
Frode Teigen lives in Egersund, Norway. He is a private investor and is on the board of several Norwegian companies. Mr. Teigen was elected to the Board of Directors at the general meeting 10 June 2009.
Tore Rasmussen
Board Member
Mr. Rasmussen is since 1993 the CEO and a major owner of NorDan Gruppen AS, one of the leading window and door suppliers in Europe. His education is in economics and business administration from NHH in Bergen and Tuck School at Dartmouth College in the USA.
Over the years Mr. Rasmussen has held numerous board positions in other companies and industry associations.
Mr. Rasmussen was elected to the Board of Directors at the general meeting on May 6, 2021.
John Morten Kristiansen
Employee's representative
Mr. Kristiansen lives in Mo i Rana, Norway. He Joined Helgeland Plast in 2016, and for the last couple of years he has been working as Logistics Coordinator, mainly for land-based sites and pressure pipes as well as following up with his team of two operators.
Siv Irén Nesse
Employee's representative
Siv Irén Nesse lives in Ålgård, Rogaland. Nesse started working for AKVA group in Bryne in 2015 as an R&D engineer and is currently working as Project Portfolio Manager in R&D Landbased. She holds an MSc in Marine Coastal Development, Aquaculture from NTNU in Trondheim and a BSc of Electrical Engineering from UiS in Stavanger. Ms. Nesse joined the Board of Directors as an employee’s representative in November 2022.
Odd Jan Håland
Employee's representative
Håland lives in Nærbø, Rogaland. He started working for AKVA group in 2010. Håland has been a board member in AKVA group from 2018-2020. As Service Manager in AKVA group, he is responsible for 44 employees and 8 service departments. He has previously worked for 10 years in Prima Jæren as a Marketing and Supply Manager.