Eirik Øwre Thorshaug is vice president and head of Public and Regulatory Affairs Scandinavia at Telenor Group. He is a tech-optimist and a former politician from Norway. He was State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense from 2012 to 2013 under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's second government. After the 22 July 2011 Norway attacks he was State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Eirik has worked as political advisor to the Minister of Justice in Norway, for the Leader of The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense, and to the Standing Committee on Justice in the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget). Eirik was vice president of the Norwegian Labor Youth from 2002 to 2004. He had political experience as councilor at age 23, and became a member of the local council at age 19. Eirik is a graduate of the University of Oslo with a MSc in international relations focusing on terrorism and international security policy. He studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway and at the University of Queensland, Australia.