Marie Benedicte Bjørnland
Marie Benedicte Bjørnland is a Norwegian lawyer. She was the head of the Norwegian Police Security Service from 2012 to 2019.
She was born in Kristiansand and grew up in Lier and Sandefjord. After obtaining a Master of Law degree from the University of Oslo, she worked as a deputy judge in Skien and Porsgrunn and as a consultant in the Directorate for prices, with most of her career in various positions in the police force, becoming Chief of police in Vestfold in 2007. As part of the latter position, she led the local branch of PST.
After Janne Kristiansen resigned as head of PST in January 2012, Bjørnland was appointed the new leader by Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet on 8 June 2012, being one of six applicants for the position.
She is married with two children and resides in Sandefjord.
In 2016, Marie Bjørnland stated in a radio interview with The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation that being expressively 'anti-Islam' is enough to be considered as 'right-wing extremist' by PST.
