2003 in Norway

← 2002 2001 2000 2003 in Norway → 2004 2005 2006
Centuries:	19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	List of years in Norway

Events in the year 2003 in Norway.

Incumbents

• Monarch – Harald V
• Regent – Crown Prince Haakon – from 25 November 2003 until 12 April 2004 (during the King's treatment for cancer and the subsequent convalescence period)
• Prime Minister – Kjell Magne Bondevik (Christian Democratic Party)

Events

King Harald V successfully undergoes a 5½-hour cancer operation

March

• 19 March – A man dies and four are injured in a blasting accident in Namsos.

May

Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik (left) meets with U.S. President George W. Bush (right) at the Oval Office in White House, Washington, D.C., on 27 May 2003.

• 25 May – After docking in Miami at 05:00, SS Norway is severely damaged by a boiler explosion at 06:30, that kills 7, and injures 17 crew members. A few weeks later it is announced by NCL that she will never sail again as a commercial ocean liner.

September

• 15 September – Norwegian county council elections, and municipal and county elections are held throughout the country.

October

Five Nordic Prime Ministers (Matti Vanhanen (left) from Finland, Davíð Oddsson (second left) from Iceland, Kjell Magne Bondevik (center) from Norway, Anders Fogh Rasmussen (second right) from Denmark and Göran Persson (right) from Sweden) at the Nordic Council Session in Oslo, Norway, on 27 October 2003.

December

• 1 December – King Harald V was announced to be suffering from bladder cancer.
• 8 December – King Harald V successfully undergoes a 5½-hour cancer operation in which his bladder is removed and a new one constructed, at Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo.
• 10 December – Shirin Ebadi of Iran receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
• 12 December – Keiko, the orca whale who starred in the 1993 film Free Willy, dies of pneumonia while in the Taknes Bay located at the Arasvikfjord in Norway, where he had lived in the recent years.

Popular culture

Music

Main article: 2003 in Norwegian music

• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003

Film

Main article: Norwegian films of the 2000s § 2003

Television

Main article: 2003 in Norwegian television

Notable births

• 29 April – Maud Angelica Behn, daughter of Ari Behn and Princess Märtha Louise of Norway

Notable deaths

Axel Jensen

• 13 January – Andreas Holm, politician (born 1906)
• 24 January – Rolf Kirkvaag, journalist and radio and television personality (born 1920)
• 13 February – Axel Jensen, author and poet (born 1932)
• 3 March – Kitty Petrine Fredriksen, politician (born 1910).
• 6 March – Claus Helberg, resistance fighter and mountain guide (born 1919)
• 17 March – Anne-Olaug Ingeborgrud, politician (born 1925)
• 29 March – Herbjørn Sørebø, media personality (born 1933).
• 5 April – Sigurd Manneråk, politician (born 1942)
• 6 April – Ole Otto Paus, General and diplomat (born 1910)
• 14 April – Olai Ingemar Eikeland, politician (born 1915)
• 22 April – Ola H. Kveli, politician (born 1921)
• 9 May – Hans Engnestangen, speed skater and World Champion (born 1908)
• 14 May – Ingvar Lars Helle, politician (born 1933)
• 24 May – Arne Skouen, film director and journalist (born 1913)
• 30 May – Lars T. Platou, electrical engineer and politician (born 1920)
• 13 June – Tor Stokke, actor (born 1928)
• 27 June – Magne Aarøen, politician (born 1944)
• 12 August – Håkon Kyllingmark, politician and Minister (born 1915)
• 5 September – Harry Hansen, politician (born 1919)
• 9 September – Otto Lyng, politician (born 1926)
• 8 October – Petter Thomassen, politician and Minister (born 1941)
• 24 October – Eva Haalke, ballet teacher and dancer (born 1912).
• 10 November – Edvard Beyer, literary historian, literary critic and professor (born 1920)
• 3 December – Kristine Rusten, politician (born 1940)
• 24 December – Gunnar Alf Larsen, politician (born 1919)

Full date unknown

• Harald Magne Elstad, judge (born 1913)