Øistein Knudsen, Jr. was appointed National Civil Defense Commissioner and took command as Norway ́s Chief of Civil Defense on 17 March 2022.

Commissioner Knudsen previously served in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. He was appointed Director General in 2013 and became Under Secretary for Public Security in 2020. Commissioner Knudsen is a former navy officer and university scholar. For the past eight years he has been a visiting professor of crisis management and security studies at the George C. Marshall College of International and Security Studies.

Commissioner Knudsen is a graduate of the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Defense Intelligence and Security College, as well as the NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy.