Management team

Karl Johnny Hersvik has been CEO of Aker BP since May 2014. Prior to joining Aker BP, he served as head of research for Statoil. Hersvik has held a number of specialist and executive positions with Norsk Hydro and StatoilHydro.

Hersvik holds a Cand. Scient. (second cycle) degree in Industrial Mathematics from the University of Bergen.

Hersvik is chairman of the board of RunwayFBU, and member of the Board of Directors at Offshore Norway, the International school of Bergen (ISB), and Clara Venture Labs.

Tønne has been the Chief Financial Officer of Aker BP ASA since January 2019 after advancing from the position of VP Corporate Controlling. Tønne has been with Aker BP since January 2017.

Prior to joining Aker BP, Tønne worked for the Boston Consulting Group where he co-led the Nordic Energy Practice Area supporting clients in O&G, Private Equity, Shipping and Industrial goods across a wide range of functional topics in Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Tønne holds a master’s degree in finance from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Kongelf is responsible for Aker BP’s improvement program.

Prior to joining Aker BP, he served as head of Norwegian operations in Aker Solutions. He has more than 30 years of industrial experience from numerous technical and management positions in Aker Solutions.

Kongelf holds a master’s degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Kongelf is a board member and Aker representative for Eureka Logistics AS, Eureka Pumps AS, FPE Sontum AS and Origo Solutions AS.

Blaasmo has been the SVP for People and Safety since 1 October 2022. She has been SVP HSSEQ since 2019. Prior to this, she held the position as responsible for the Drilling & Wells performance and improvement agenda. Blaasmo has been with the company since August 2017.

She holds more than 18 years’ experience from Equinor and Baker Hughes INTEQ and has held multiple operational and management positions within Drilling & Wells disciplines.

Blaasmo holds a master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Doyle is Chief Digital Officer in Aker BP. She comes from the position as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cognite, where she was also part of the Executive Management Team.

Doyle joined Aker BP in 2022. She has held a variety of roles within the oil and gas industry for companies such as ABB and Siemens, in Norway and the Middle East. During her time in the Middle East, Doyle established and ran a non-profit industrial technology organisation.

Doyle has a deep knowledge of industrial software space and digitalization processes in heavy-asset industries, and holds a PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Limerick.

Talar Arif has been serving as the SVP for Ula since February 2024. She joins us from her role as HSE&Q Manager for field operations, where she held responsibilities for HSEQ, occupational health, and environmental aspects related to Aker BP’s producing assets. Arif has been with the company since 2015 and brings extensive expertise in risk management, HSEQ, performance, and improvement.

Prior to her current position, Arif worked with HSEQ at Shell. She also gained experience in supply chain management, maintenance, and data management at BP Norge.

Arif holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and a Master’s degree in Security and Risk Management from the University of Stavanger.

Sandvik has been SVP Projects in Aker BP since July 2019. He has more than 30 years’ experience from the oil & gas industry. Throughout his career, Sandvik has held various senior project and leadership positions across Aker Solutions, including four years as a member of the Executive Management Team.

Sandvik holds a degree in Mechanical Offshore Engineering from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.

Sigmundstad has been SVP Drilling & Wells in Aker BP since 2016. Prior to this, he was Vice President Wells in BP Asia Pacific.

Sigmundstad has broad experience within the oil and gas industry from companies such as Baker Hughes and Philips, before joining BP in 2000. Within BP, Sigmundstad has held various operational, engineering and management positions in Norway, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and Indonesia.

Sigmundstad holds a master’s degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Stavanger.

Sigmundstad is a member of the board of directors in MHWirth.

Seljebotn has been the head of exploration and reservoir development since he started at the company in 2022.

Seljebotn has more than 20 years of experience from exploration activity and oil recovery on the Norwegian shelf and UK shelf. He previously spent 10 years at Lundin in various positions. He was responsible for reservoir development in Lundin starting in 2015, and in 2020 he also took on responsibility for exploration in Lundin. Seljebotn has also worked for Marathon Oil, Noreco and ExxonMobil.

Seljebotn has a master’s degree in geophysics from NTNU.

Vidnes has been SVP Operations since 1 September 2020. Vidnes started working for the company in 2019, where his first role was as project manager for establishing the company’s operating model.

Vidnes has more than 25 years of experience from operating companies such as Statoil, Talisman and Repsol Sinopec, with an emphasis on drilling & wells, asset management, operations, and major change projects. He has held positions as OIM, VP of Production, area director, and has been at the helm of major organisational transition projects.

Vidnes has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH), now the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

Dolve has been the SVP Operations and Asset Development since July 2020. She comes from the position of VP Operations & Asset development for Skarv in Aker BP. She has worked with the company since 2010 and been involved in various key projects to develop and improve both company and industry performance.

Before joining Aker BP, she worked in management consulting (PwC) within finance, management of change and digitalisation for O&G. She also has several years of experience from the Armed Forces, nationally and internationally.

Dolve holds a master’s degree in Finance and International Management from NHH Norwegian School of Economics / ESADE, Barcelona. She is also educated at the Air Force Officer Candidate School and the Norwegian Naval Academy in Bergen.

Høier has been SVP and Asset Manager for NOAKA since August 2020. He joined Aker BP in 2019 as VP for Concept Development and Technology.

Høier has more than 20 years of experience from Equinor, with positions as SVP for R&D, as well as production director for several assets, including the Troll field.

Høier holds a Master of Science degree in Physics from the University in Oslo and a PhD in Petroleum technology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Nielsen has been the Asset Manager for Grieg-Aasen since October 2022. She comes from the position of Operations Director in Lundin, a post she has held since 2011.

Nielsen has more than 30 years of experience from various roles within development and production from the oil and gas industry on the Norwegian shelf. She has worked for companies including Norsk Hydro and Norske Shell. Nielsen also spent three years as the chief executive for VEAS (Norway’s largest water treatment plant).

Nielsen is an engineer in process chemistry and has a trade certificate in both process and automation.

Thomas D. Hoff-Hansen has been serving as the Chief Information Officer since February 2024. Prior to this, he served as the Director for Operations and Field Development in the Ula, and previously the Alvheim area. Hoff-Hansen has been an integral part of our company since early 2009, accumulating extensive experience in diverse technical roles and demonstrating effective leadership both offshore and onshore.

Before joining Aker BP, Hoff-Hansen worked in automation and instrumentation at ExxonMobil.

Hoff-Hansen holds a Master’s degree in engineering and cybernetics from the University of Stavanger.

Øvretveit has been the SVP for Skarv since April 2022.

Øvretveit has more than 25 years of experience from various positions at Equinor, including as head of the process plant at Mongstad Refinery, production manager on Troll and Oseberg, improvements manager, OIM, superintendent and O&M Manager, as well as process engineer and process technician. He started out as an apprentice at Mongstad in 1996.

Øvretveit is a process engineer and skilled worker, and has completed military officer training.

Molvig has been the Valhall Asset Manager since 2020, and comes from the role of SVP Reservoir.

Molvig has worked for the company since 2009, and came to Aker BP via Det Norske, where he held the position of VP Subsurface.

Molvig has extensive and varied experience from the oil and gas industry. He has worked for companies such as ExxonMobil, Statoil and Marathon Oil.

Molvig has a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from NTNU in Trondheim.