Bård Vegar Solhjell is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party

Socialist Left Party (Norway)

The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...

, was Minister of Education and Research (K-12

K-12

K–12 is a designation for the sum of primary and secondary education. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand where P–12 is also commonly used...

) from 2007-2009 in the second cabinet Stoltenberg

Second cabinet Stoltenberg

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet is the current government of Norway. Appointed on 17 October 2005, it is a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. The cabinet has ten members from the Labour Party, five from the Socialist...

.

Solhjell was appointed as minister on 18 October 2007, succeeding Øystein Djupedal

Øystein Djupedal

Øystein Kåre Djupedal, born 5 May 1960 in Oslo, Norway, is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party and a member of Storting for Sør-Trøndelag County where he has sat since the 1993 election. For two years from 17 October 2005 until 18 October 2007 he was the Minister of Education and...

. Djupedal's old department was split during the 2007 reshuffle, and Solhjell is the minister in charge of kindergartens and lower education up to and including the high school level. The minister dealing with research and higher education is Tora Aasland

Tora Aasland

Tora Aasland is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party.She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Akershus in 1985, and was re-elected on one occasion....

.

Solhjell was previously a political adviser for the Socialist Left Party and a state secretary at the Prime Minister's office.

Solhjell is educated in social science at both the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 and the University of Bergen

University of Bergen

The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...

. He has worked as a teacher, and in the postal service.