Osvald M. Bjelland

Entrepreneur, investor, and cultural leader focused on people- and planet-positive growth. Founder of Origination AS and the Origination Foundation, uniting originators across business, policy, arts, and civil society with long-term foresight.

Osvald Bjelland is an entrepreneur, investor, and cultural leader with a deep interest in people- and planet-positive models of growth. He is the founder and Chairman of Origination AS and of the Origination Foundation, focused on building a community of originators from business, policy, the arts, and civil society who invest with long-term strategic foresight, especially in frontier markets.

He previously founded and led Xyntéo as Chairman and CEO, and created The Performance Theatre—an interactive experience convening world leaders, Nobel Laureates, scientists, and artists. He shares a lifelong commitment to the arts with his wife, Thorhild Widvey, former Norwegian Minister of Culture and Minister of Energy; together they have two sons, Ole Kristoffer and Johannes.

Born near Bjelland, Norway, he is a senior fellow for the Sustainable Investing Research Initiative at Columbia University, has been a visiting fellow at Oxford and Stanford, and holds a PhD from the University of Leeds, an MBA from Henley Business School, and a BA from BI Norwegian Business School. He served with the Royal Norwegian Airforce, has appeared on major global media platforms, and co-authored “Hope for Life on our Planet: Inspiration for Seven Generations.”