Olav Øygard (born 29 July 1956) is a Norwegian Lutheran prelate of the Church of Norway who serves as the Bishop of Nord-Hålogaland since 2014. Nord-Hålogaland covers Troms and Finnmark countries, and also Svalbard. Øygard is a self-described "middle of the Church" theologian.
Early life and education
Øygard was born on 29 July 1956.
His earned his Cand.theol. degree in the autumn of 1980 from the MF Norwegian School of Theology. In 1989, he completed a course on Pastoral Clinical Education, and in 1993, he completed a semester course on the Sami language at the University of Tromsø. In 1996, he completed a course on Parental Education (MPE), and in 1998 he finished another class on the topic of separated parents. In 2002, he returned to the MF Norwegian School of Theology for a Labor Supervisor Education course, and again in 2009 for a pastoral leadership development program. In 2014, he participated in a course for priestly education at the Misjonshøgskolen (MHS).
Priesthood
Øygard was ordained to the priesthood on 2 August 1981 in the Karasjok Church. From August 1981 to April 1985, he worked in ministerial positions in Finnmark, including as vicar of the Kautokeino Church in Kautokeino from September 1983 to June 1984. On 25 April 1985, he took office as senior pastor in Sør-Varanger, working out of the Kirkenes Church. During that time, he also served as a counselor at the Kirkenes family office, serving in that position until February 1991. In Finnmark, he also spent time working as a youth minister in schools. He remained pastor in Kirkenes until June 1991, when he was transferred to the city of Alta. There, he served as a chaplain from until February 2006, when he became the head pastor of the Alta Parish. He remained in that position since 2011, though he took a short leave from March 2008 to April 2009, when he served as a counselor at the Alta family office.
In addition to his ministerial positions, Øygard was a member of a number of boards and committees. From 1990 to 1998, he was a member of the diocesan council of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland, serving as deputy chairman for part of that time. From 1996 to 2008, he was on the board of Northern Norway Diaconal Foundation. During that time, he sat on the Impact Council, a religious cooperation agency of the Church of Norway, reaching out to Lutheran organizations in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. From 2001 to 2004, he was a member of the National Council for Priorities in Health Care. From 2002 to 2007 he was a member, and for some time chairman, of the North Sami Liturgy Committee. Until 2014, he was chair of the Norwegian Missionary Society's activities in Finnmark county.
In addition, he was involved in programs working with disabled people abroad, in the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Romania, Russia, and Tanzania.
Episcopal career
Election
In late August 2014, the Church Council of the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland met in Tromsø to elect a new bishop. The election was between the three candidates who had received the most support in a preliminary poll: Olav Øygard, the 58-year-old priest in Alta, Herborg Finnset, a 53-year-old priest in Tromsø, and Hans Arne Akerø, the 65-year-old section head of the Church Council. While Øygard and Finnset were the leading two in the preliminary/advisory poll, both faced challenges to becoming elected. While Finnset was the favorite of most bishops, she faced opposition from the theologically conservative Laestadians in the diocese, who warned they would not accept a female bishop. And the most prominent issue dividing the candidates was homosexual marriage, with Finnset supporting it, and Øygard and Akerø opposing it.