Ole Paus (businessman)


Ole Paus was a Norwegian iron and steel industrialist and Chairman of the commercial bank Den norske Creditbank. He was a first cousin of Henrik Ibsen.

Career

He attended the Latin School in his native Skien and studied in Lübeck. He lived for several years in Germany and the United Kingdom, until he settled in Bygdøy, Aker.
He founded the iron and steel wholesale company Ole Paus in 1872 and the factory A/S Den norske Hesteskosømfabrik in 1883. He was chairman of the Norwegian Iron Industry Association from 1910 to 1918. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Den norske Creditbank, one of Norway's leading commercial banks, from 1897, and became the bank's Chairman in 1903. He was also elected as a member of the Christiania city council, was a board member of Christiania Handelsstands Forening, chairman of the supervisory board of the leading conservative newspaper Morgenbladet, a member of the Council of Fifty and a member of the supervisory board of Akers mekaniske Verksted.

Family

He was the son of shipowner and banker Christopher Blom Paus and Erasmine Ernst, a native of Denmark. His first cousin was playwright Henrik Ibsen and his nephew was art collector and papal chamberlain, Count Christopher Tostrup Paus. His grandparents were shipowner Ole Paus and Johanne Plesner.
Ole Paus was married to Birgitte Halvordine Schou. They had several children