Ambassador Vollebæk was born on 11 February 1946 in Oslo and is a distinguished Norwegian diplomat and politician. He has served as Chair of ICMP’s Board of Commissioners since 2023. He served as the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities from 2007 to 2013. Prior to that, he was Norway’s Ambassador to the United States between 2001 and 2007 and Foreign Minister from 1997 to 2000. He was Chairmperson-in-Office of the OSCE in 1999.

Ambassador Vollebæk’s diplomatic career includes assignments to New Delhi, Madrid and Harare. He was Norwegian Ambassador to Costa Rica from 1991 to 1993 and Assistant Secretary General at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1994 until he became Foreign Minister in 1997. He served as Deputy Co-Chair of the International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia in 1993. He was appointed Primus inter pares of the Panel of Eminent Persons on Strengthening the Effectiveness of the OSCE in 2005. He was Chair of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in 1999-2000 and Chair of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council in 1997-1998. Between October 1989 and November 1990, he was the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Norway.

Ambassador Vollebæk has been an ICMP Commissioner since September 2013.