The founder of the Golden Colombia Foundation is the Norwegian entrepreneur and writer, Øystein Schjetne, born on April 19, 1967 in Bergen, Norway.

 

Øystein Schjetne holds a master’s degree in engineering from The Norwegian Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in business administration from The Norwegian School of Economics and a master’s degree in industrial sociology from Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

 

In 2006, Schjetne founded the Golden Colombia Foundation, a Norwegian non-profit entity that is currently where he is currently chairman of the board. Golden Colombia has established in Colombia the non-profit Centro Cultural La Provincia and a learning program for disadvantaged young people, Albalab Juvenile Innovation Centers.

Written about Øystein Schjetne

 

Oystein Schjetne, the most Colombian of all Scandinavians.

– William Ospina in My northern lights in El Espectador

 

Øystein knows more about Colombia than many Colombians, and it is encouraging to hear him talk about everything one can do in our country once the war ends.

– Gustavo Arango i, The man who gives away countries in Vivir en El Poblado

 

When he first came to Colombia in 1999 […] Schjetne found the vallenato music that revolutionized his musical world. He became a researcher of our folklore, he studied the texts of our classical composers – a vallenatologist.

– El Tiempo, 05.20.2021

Øystein Schjetne with the vallenato king Manuel Vega on the city wall in Cartagena.
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The legendary vallenato composer Leandro Díaz with Øystein Schjetne on a Scandinavia tour organized by Golden Colombia in 2009.

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Cartoon of Øystein Schjetne by Jaime Molina.
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Schjetne reporting from the armed conflict, Tumaco 2012.

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