Ola Mestad

Ola Mestad (born 8 December 1955) is a Norwegian legal scholar. He has also held a number of board memberships in cultural institutions.

He was born in Oslo. After finishing his secondary education at Berg in 1974, he finished the cand.jur. degree at the University of Oslo in 1984. In 1992 he took the dr.juris degree with the thesis Om force majeure og risikofordeling i kontrakt, stuyding force majeure clauses in contract law.

In addition to a period as a lawyer in the law firm BA-HR, Mestad has been a professor at the University of Oslo, specializing in European Union law, Petroleum law, international investment law and contract law. Mestad served as deputy chair of the Government Pension Fund Global's ethical council. He is a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Mestad has written about the Constitution of Norway and other 19th-century topics, including ''Rett, nasjon, union. Den svensk-norske unionens rettslige historie 1814–1905 with Dag Michalsen (2005) and Anton Martin Schweigaard. Professorpolitikeren'' (2009).

Mestad was a board member of the publishing houses Fonna (1980s), Det Norske Samlaget (1985 to 1999) and Aschehoug (from 2003); editorial council member of Samtiden from 2001 to 2006 and Syn og Segn from 2006; board member of the Ibsen Year of 2006; and chair of Dag og Tid from 2005.