Olav Kjørven

As Special Adviser to the UNDP Administrator on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, Olav Kjørven plays a central role in shaping the next global development agenda dedicated to poverty eradication and sustainable development. He previously led UNDP’s substantive contribution to accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau for Development Policy. Instrumental in brokering the decision to establish globally shared Sustainable Development Goals to replace the MDGs after 2015 and in advancing UNDP’s integrated approach to sustainable development, he oversaw large programmes on climate change, biodiversity, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and democratic governance. He played a key role in establishing strong partnerships with private sector and civil society counterparts and spearheaded the most ambitious global consultations in UN history to shape the “World We Want” and the Post-2015 Development Agenda. He also served as State Secretary for International Development with the Government of Norway from 2001 to 2005 and as Director of International Development at ECON – Centre for Economic Analysis from 2000 to 2001. He is on the Board of Directors of EARTH University, Costa Rica.