Olav Holst-Dyrnes, new CEO of Hofseth International.
Photo: Hofseth
Norwegian seafood group Hofseth International has announced the appointment of Olav Holst-Dyrnes as its new CEO, as founder and outgoing CEO Roger Hofseth steps aside to focus on the company’s commercial and market development as chief commercial officer.
Holst-Dyrnes has held several senior roles in the seafood and industrial sectors. He previously served as chief executive of seafood company Havfisk between 2012 and 2014, before moving to furniture manufacturer Ekornes, where he led the company from 2014 to 2020. During that time he was also an independent member of the board at the Danish seafood company A.Espersen.
In 2020 he joined the investment company Kverva, which is controlled by the Witzøe family and is the majority shareholder in salmon producer SalMar, taking up the role of investment director. He also led seafood group Insula as chief executive and currently serves as chair of Insula’s board.
Holst-Dyrnes also holds a number of other board positions, including as chair of the Norwegian Seafood Council and a board member at ship building firm Ulstein and Havila Shipping.
“Olav brings extensive experience from both the seafood industry and from leading and developing companies through periods of growth and transformation," Roger Hofseth said in a press announcement.
“I have known Olav for some time and we have had many good discussions over a long period before arriving at this decision. I am therefore very pleased that he has agreed to join Hofseth and I am confident he is the right person to lead the company forward.”
He added the change would allow him to concentrate more fully on the group’s commercial work: “With Olav leading the Group as CEO, I will dedicate more time to our commercial activities and market development as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). This includes strengthening our customer relationships, expanding our value-added product portfolio and continuing to build on our IceFresh technology platform.”
Holst-Dyrnes said he was looking forward to joining the company. “I am thrilled to take on this opportunity to lead Hofseth International going forward, working together with Roger Hofseth and the rest of the team.”
“Hofseth’s ambition is to grow exponentially over the next five years, and I am excited to contribute towards the vision Roger Hofseth has established. Hofseth has a truly unique asset base in the Aalesund region in Western Norway which can still benefit from significant economies of scale in the coming years.”
The new CEO made reference to Hofseth's recent work on finding solutions to the problem of seafood waste and emissions from seafood transport, recently highlighted during its presence at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“It is rare to have the opportunity to develop a Company embracing circular economy and new 'foodtech' to eliminate food waste and optimise the whole seafood value chain," Holst-Drynes said.
The company recently announced it has started building its first full-scale closed containment units, as well as launching a new submersible farming facility to test whether deeper farming can reduce sea lice pressure in salmon production.