It is with great sadness that we announce that Sverre Guttorm Holen passed away peacefully after a long illness on Wednesday 11 January 2017.
Sverre will be remembered by us, his colleagues, primarily as the central driving force in introducing interim management to Norway through the company Interimleder AS. Many hundreds of businesses have benefited from interim managers supplied by Interimleder in demanding situations. Those of us working at Interimleder will continue his legacy by promoting the advantages of interim management as a solution for businesses with requirements of this kind.
During his final years with the company, Sverre took the initiative and was the central driving force for the application of Inbound Marketing as a tool in our marketing efforts. Blogging has been central to this initiative. Over the past two years, Sverre wrote as many as 132 blog articles on management themes, the last of which was published as late as 3 January of this year. For a 70+ year old to start blogging is not an everyday occurrence, and this says a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit Sverre possessed in his professional life.
Sverre Guttorm Holen was born in 1944 and grew up in Folldal in Østerdalen in Hedmark. He is survived by three children, two adult daughters, Heidi and Marianne, and his young son, Anton, as well as six grandchildren.
Sverre studied for his Bachelor of Applied Science degree at Oslo Tekniske Skole (now called the Oslo College of Engineering), and later earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics at Handelshøyskolen BI (BI Norwegian Business School).
Sverre Holen began his professional career as an engineer at Tandberg Radiofabrikk AS in 1967, and worked from 1971 to 1980 as chief consultant at Norske Radio and TV-handlernes Landsforbund. From 1982 he served for three years as CEO of Detaljist Data AS before becoming, in 1984, co-founder of the consultancy Holen, Finsrud & Partners AS focusing on management development and organisational development.
Sverre Holen founded Interimleder AS in 2001 together with Silke Holen. He had long understood how global developments required increasingly rapid changes in corporate management teams, and that there was no one offering emergency managerial assistance in this area. From the outset, Sverre was the central driving force in the development of the company, assuming multiple roles as CEO, senior consultant and founder, as well as serving on the board of directors.
To his dying day, Sverre was a committed father to son Anton and daughters Heidi and Marianne, as well as a devoted grandfather to his daughters' children.
You are already deeply missed, Sverre! We're taking over the Interimleder baton from you.
Your colleagues at Interimleder AS
by Vegard Rooth, CEO
For a 70+ year old to start blogging is not an everyday occurrence, and this says a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit Sverre possessed in his professional life.