Jacob Bredesen



Jacob Jansen Bredesen (born 21 November 1998) is a British-Norwegian technologist and politician for the Liberal Party (Venstre).

Background
Bredesen was born in the United Kingdom, as the son of the dance teacher and choreographer Candice Bredesen (b.1976) and photographer and painter Tommy Bredesen (b. 1975). He is the oldest of five siblings.

His mother Candice lived an exciting life in show business, but chose to move to the small Norwegian town of Florø in 2003 with her Norwegian husband Tommy, whom was from the town. They both studied art at the same university.

In 2005 his mother was awarded the cross cultural prize by Flora Municipality for her work to build a strong dance environment in the town. Later the same year the family moved to Nordfjordeid, in Stad Municipality.

Bredesen's father Tommy was a painter, teacher and photographer He was awarded photographer of the year by foto.no in the category "Environment" He had exhibitions within Sogn og Fjordane. For example, with Flora Kunstlag featuring notable subjects such as Pushwagner and Iggy Pop.

His mother was busy when the family lived in Florø, consequently she learned little Norwegian. When she was shopping Jacob had to translate for her. This became important in 2006, when Bredesen was only seven years old. He saved the life of his 3 month old sister, when her face turned blue and she struggled to breath. As his mother knew little Norwegian she called the British emergency number 999 instead of the Norwegian 113. Jacob called the correct number and assisted emergency services.

When Bredesen was confirmed he traveled to Malawi with the Norwegian Church Aid, to learn about aid work in the region. He was later involved in the youth organization Changemaker. After this his interests moved over to politics he joined the regional youth council and the political party Venstre.

Bredesen attended Eid Upper Secondary School. He then studied International Baccalaureate at Red Cross Nordic United World College in Fjalar Municipality.

Political work
Bredesen was the president of Sogn og Fjordane Unge Venstre, and thus also a member of the county council of Venstre in Sogn og Fjordane, and a member of the national board of Unge Venstre.

He was also employed as the election secretary during the 2015 election.

Bredesen became historic as the first sixteen year old to vote in the 2015 municipal election in Eid Municipality He was unable to vote in the county elections due to this being a trail for 16 and 17 year old's being able to vote in select municipalities.

Bredesen has supported more liberal drug laws in Norway, such as legalizing cannabis. He has supported the right for students to freely chose the school they want to attend in the county and expressed that he believes the school days should start later. When he lived in Fjaler as a student at UWC he started work on a E-sports class for Dale Upper Secondary School. He has also demanded that asylum seekers get to work as they wait for judgement in Norway. Bredesen has also criticized the Solberg cabinet for not focusing on climate issues.

In 2016 he was opposed to Christian songs being used in the county parliament and said that religion and politics should not mix. He was later appointed as the chair of the Norwegian Humanist Association in Nordfjord.

He has also been a vocal critic of Donald Trump and far-right ideology.

In 2023 he was a candidate for Stad Venstre in the municipal elections.

Career
Bredesen studied game design in England, but quit to focus on his own projects. Since 2018 he has run the video game company Six Kings. He has published games on Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation platforms.

Bredesen is also the CTO at the Sagastad Viking Center   In the role he has among other things developed a Virtual reality experience that recreates Nordfjordeid during the Viking Age.

Since 2024 he has also been the marketing director for the cruise port in Nordfjordeid.