Rolf Østbye
Norwegian businessman (1898-1979)
Rolf Østbye (17 April 1898 – 20 November 1979) was a Norwegian businessperson.
He was born in Kristiania as a son of rector Niels Johan Hagerup Østbye (1866–1952) and Johanne Elisabeth Mellbye (1873–1962). From 1923 to 1931 he was married to Reidun Berg (1899–1976), and from 1933 he was married to Ellen Martinsen (1904–1997), a granddaughter of Gustav Martinsen.
He worked in Ringnes Bryggeri, Lillehammer Bryggeri and Bjølsen Valsemølle at a young age, but took education as a chemical engineer. He was hired in Standard Telefon og Kabelfabrik in 1947, and became chief executive officer in 1949. In 1953 he was hired in Norsk Hydro, becoming Director-General (CEO) in 1956. He stayed in this position until 1966; after this he was chairman of the board from 1967 to 1970. From 1966 to 1973 he chaired the Norwegian Trade Council, which is now a part of Innovation Norway.
He was also a supervisory council member of Forsikringsaktieselskabet Norden.
“Rolf Østbye” enters the record as norwegian businessman (1898-1979). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Rolf, Østbye and Norwegian can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Rolf Østbye” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Rolf, Østbye and Norwegian provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 29, 2021. The linked authority identifier is Q7360822. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1898, 1979, 1866 and 1952.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Rolf Østbye”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Rolf Østbye primary sources, Rolf Østbye archive and Rolf research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Rolf Østbye”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Rolf Østbye” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.