Osvald Bjelland is a Norwegian entrepreneur, investor, and business executive whose long record of founding organizations that espouse ecologically and civically responsible mandates. Bjelland currently serves as chairman of Origination AS, an Oslo-based company he founded that mobilizes originators and other exceptional leaders worldwide to invest in service of people and the planet with long-term strategic foresight. 

Bjelland grew up in an agricultural and business community in the Fjord Coast of western Norway and attended high school in the North Sea port town of Haugesund. Following military service in the Royal Norwegian Air Force, he earned a BA from BI Norwegian Business School and an MBA from Henley Business School in England. Early on in his career, he was appointed director of the Norwegian Savings Banks Association, and segued into a position with SMG Research in New York City. Upon his return to Norway, he started The Performance Group (TPG), a consulting firm advising corporate senior management on work process efficiency. Key clients included General Motors, Tivoli, and IBM in the United States, and Electrolux in Sweden.  

In 2000, after selling The Performance Group in the wake of the dot-com bubble, he traded commerce for academia, earning a PhD from the University of Leeds (UK) in 2008. Later, he would return to academia as a visiting business fellow at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and as a visiting scholar at Stanford University. Several purpose-driven ventures followed, notably the 2001 launch of his advisory firm Xynteo, dedicated to guiding energy transition in frontier markets such as India. He served as CEO, president and chairman. In 2023, Bjelland sold a majority share of Xynteo to Leon Capital and retained a 20 percent stake along with an employee ownership arrangement. Bjelland's legacy is also stamped on partnerships and business consortiums such as the  Tata Xynteo Exchange, a joint venture helmed by Bjelland and the chairman of Tata Sons. Other partnerships include Vikaasa and Europe Delivers. Under Bjelland’s stewardship, Xynteo also built The Leadership Vanguard, working with global CEOs, heads of state, Nobel laureates and scientists to promote “good growth” in service of people and the planet. Together, the companies and collaborative entities have delivered over five hundred projects in the U.S., China, India, Europe, and Brazil.

Bjelland is married to Thorhild Widvey, Norway’s former Minister of Petroleum and Energy as well as Minister of Culture. The couple has two sons. He remains an enthusiastic farmer, adhering to a zero-pesticide environment. 

His motto brings together the essence of his work – stronger together!