Odd Bang-Hansen


Odd Bang-Hansen was a Norwegian educator, journalist and author.

Biography

He was born in Kristiania, Norway. His parents were Lauritz Bang-Hansen and Astri Halvorsen. His father was a Lutheran priest who was later assigned to parishes in Vadsø and Kristiansund. He received a cand.philol. degree in 1934 from the University of Oslo.
He became an associate professor at the Oslo Commerce School in the late 1930s.
During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, he sent his wife and children to live in Stockholm. He was actively involved in the Norwegian resistance movement, making a significant effort to help Norwegian Jews out of the country. In 1943, he was forced to re-locate to Great Britain where he was a consultant working with British officers in support of the Norwegian resistance. After the Liberation of Norway at the end of World War II, he was attached to the Labour Party publication Arbeiderbladet as a film and theater critic. He remained at the newspaper as a journalist until his death in 1984.
He made his literary debut in 1938 with the novel Fager er studentens drøm. He wrote several children's books, including Mette og Tom i fjellet, and Trapp med 9 trinn. He was chairman of the Norwegian Authors' Union from 1965 to 1971.

Selected works

He married physician Elise Aas in 1936. He was father of both theatre director Kjetil Bang-Hansen and film producer Pål Bang-Hansen.