# List of county governors of Vestfold

The County Governor of Vestfold (Norwegian: Fylkesmann i Vestfold) was the county governor for Vestfold county in Norway from 1821 until the office was abolished in 2019. The office of county governor is a government agency of the Kingdom of Norway which represents the national government in each county. The county governor is an appointed position. On 1 January 2019, this office was merged with the County Governor of Telemark into the County Governor of Vestfold og Telemark (this was done in preparation for the merger of the two counties in 2020).
The governor is the government's representative in the county. They carry out the resolutions and guidelines of the Storting and government. This is done first by the county governor performing administrative tasks on behalf of the ministries. Secondly, the county governor also monitors the activities of the municipalities and is the appeal body for many types of municipal decisions.

## History

In 1821, the government of Norway established Jarlsberg og Laurvig as an amt (or county). Prior to that time, the county fell under the governance of the Count of Larvik and the Count of Jarlsberg. The county was subordinate to the Diocesan Governor of Christiania. In 1919, the name of the county was changed to Vestfold fylke. On 1 January 2019, the office was merged creating the new office of County Governor of Vestfold og Telemark in preparation for the merger of the neighboring counties of Telemark and Vestfold to form Vestfold og Telemark county on 1 January 2020.

## Title

The word for county (amt or fylke) and the name of the county have both changed over time. Therefore the title of the officeholder has also changed.
* From 1821 until 1877, the title for each officeholder was Amtmann i Jarlsberg og Laurvigs amt.
* From 1877 until 31 December 1918, the title for each officeholder was Amtmann i Jarlsberg og Larvik amt.
* From 1 January 1919 to 1 January 2019, the title for each officeholder was Fylkesmann i Vestfold.

## List of officeholders

Vestfold county has had the following governors:
County governors of Vestfold :
| Start | End | Name |
| 1821 | 1829 | Georg Jacob Bull (1785–1854) |
| 1829 | 1833 | Johan Henrik Rye (1787–1868) |
| 1833 | 1864 | Ulrik Frederik Cappelen (1797–1864) |
| 1865 | 1882 | Johan Christian Georg Hvoslef (1819–1889) |
| 1882 | 1902 | Carl Johan Michelet (1826–1902) |
| 1902 | 1905 | Thomas von Westen Engelhart (1850–1905) |
| 1905 | 1908 | Ulrik Frederik Cappelen Krohn (1867–1944) |
| 1908 | 1924 | Abraham Berge (1851–1936) |
| 1924 | 1938 | Herman Meinich (1868–1948) |
| 1938 | 1948 | Johannes Gerckens Bassøe (1878–1962) Removed from office 1942-1945 during the occupied government. |
| 1942 | 1943 | Halvor Pedersen Hektoen (1884–1960) (WWII Occupied government) |
| 1944 | 1945 | Christopher Andreas Hoxmark Lange (1894–1989) (WWII Occupied government) |
| 1948 | 1958 | Oscar Fredrik Torp (1893–1958) (He spent most of this time in Parliament and as Prime Minister of Norway. Gerhard Dahl served as acting governor during most of Torp's term.) |
| 1958 | 1964 | Gerhard Dahl (1905–1964) |
| 1964 | 1979 | Olav Redvald Grove (1909–1997) |
| 1979 | 1988 | Odd Vattekar (1918–1992) |
| 1989 | 2010 | Mona Røkke (1940–2013) |
| 2010 | 2016 | Erling Lae (born 1947) |
| 2016 | 2022 | Per Arne Olsen (1961–2022) |
| Office abolished on 1 January 2019, see List of county governors of Vestfold og Telemark ||||