Sverre Olav FarstadBritish Honorary Consul · Ålesund
British honorary consular service · Ålesund
A local role. A family tradition.
From Otto Tyrholm to four generations of the Farstad family, a continuing connection between Ålesund and the United Kingdom.
Sverre Olav Farstad
Sverre Olav Farstad serves as British Honorary Consul in Ålesund for Møre og Romsdal, having taken over from his father. He is the fourth Farstad generation in a family tradition that began with Otto Tyrholm.
This guide brings together practical local information and official services for British residents and visitors, alongside the region’s business, cultural and historical connections with Britain.
Honorary consuls usually carry out their consular duties alongside another career, business or profession. They are locally based representatives, rather than full-time career consular staff.
The work draws on local knowledge, contacts and practical judgement. In coordination with the British Embassy in Oslo, an honorary consul can help British nationals in difficulty, support the embassy during a crisis and strengthen local relationships that serve British interests.
Depending on the appointment and instructions from the embassy, duties can include liaison with local authorities, support around hospitalisation or bereavement, visits and representation, and connections with business, cultural and community organisations. The role combines public service with everyday professional life.
OBE means Officer of the Order of the British Empire; MBE means Member. These honours recognise service and may be written after the recipient’s name. Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr.’s OBE and Sverre Farstad’s MBE are shown beside their names below.
Honours and sources
A Sunnmørsposten newspaper clipping explicitly records Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr.’s appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). It reports that the British Ambassador presented the honour at the British Embassy in Oslo, recognising his long service as British consul in Ålesund and his services to Britain during the Second World War. The clipping has no visible date. The 1954 Norwegian State Calendar separately records an MBE; the timing of the two awards has not yet been established. Sverre Farstad’s MBE in 1977 is recorded in the Farstad Shipping history book, p. 208.
The book also records the British Defence Medal, the Norwegian Defence Participation Medal with rosette and Haakon VII’s Medal among Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr.’s honours.
The consular tradition began with Otto Tyrholm, half-brother of Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr. Four generations of the Farstad family have since served in the role, each through a separate appointment.
01
The beginning of the family tradition
Otto Tyrholm
British vice-consul, listed in 1935
Otto Tyrholm established his steamship agency in Ålesund in 1914. He had spent a considerable period in Hull, an important British port for the fish trade with Ålesund. Those commercial connections across the North Sea formed the background to his later consular service.
His younger half-brother, Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr., joined the Ålesund business in 1919. The firm later became Tyrholm & Farstad. The Norwegian State Calendar for 1935 lists Petter Otto Tyrholm as British vice-consul in Ålesund.
Born in Kristiansund in 1889, he combined military training with a commercial education at Treider’s in Oslo. Work in a Hull forwarding company gave him first-hand experience of the trade between Britain and the Norwegian coast. He moved to Ålesund in 1919 to join Otto Tyrholm’s business and later became a partner.
He was already carrying out consular duties when war reached Norway in 1940. After leaving with British troops from Åndalsnes, he spent the war in England, helped injured Norwegian seamen and became the driving force behind the Norwegian Home Guard unit in Sunningdale. His wartime story is told below.
He was awarded an OBE for his long consular service and his contribution to Britain during the Second World War. Sunnmørsposten reported that the British Ambassador presented the honour at a reception at the British Embassy in Oslo. Farstad described it as recognition of the close relationship between Sunnmøre and Britain, and of the region as a whole.
The Farstad Shipping history book dates his appointment as honorary British consul to 1951. He later headed the new Farstad shipping company when it was established in 1956. Beyond shipping, he chaired Ålesund’s travel association, held senior roles in the Royal Norwegian Automobile Club and enjoyed sailing. He remained active at his office until shortly before his death in 1979.
Member of the Order of the British Empire · awarded in 1977
Sverre Farstad spent the war years in Britain after his family left Norway in 1940. The Farstad Shipping history book describes military training alongside Norwegian and British officers. At Germany’s surrender in 1945, he was travelling from Sweden towards Norway on a special mission with Kompani Linge.
After the war, he completed his schooling, studied commerce and gained business experience in England and the United States before joining Tyrholm & Farstad. He played a central part in establishing the shipping company in 1956 and in its subsequent growth, including cooperation between Ålesund shipowners and the shipbuilding community in Ulsteinvik.
He succeeded his father as honorary British consul in 1967. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an MBE in 1977 for his efforts to strengthen understanding between the two countries, as recorded in the Farstad Shipping history book. Like his father, he enjoyed sailing, although the growing business left less time for it.
Source: Farstad Shipping history book, pp. 207–208.
04
Father of the present consul
Sverre Andreas Farstad
Known as Andy · Appointed honorary consul in 1989
Andy graduated in business from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and gained experience with a shipbroker in the United States before returning to Ålesund and Tyrholm & Farstad. He went on to lead the Farstad group, first as managing director and then, from 1999, as chairman.
Appointed honorary British consul in 1989, he continued the family’s connection with Britain through both his professional life and consular service. His years in Edinburgh gave that relationship a personal Scottish connection.
A 2023 Sunnmørsposten feature records a practical example of cooperation between local consuls during the Viking Sky emergency. French consul Gunnar Haagensen recalled contacting Andy, who had passenger information and quickly helped establish whether French nationals were aboard. The account shows how local knowledge and contact between consuls can support an embassy during a crisis.
British Honorary Consul in Ålesund · Møre og Romsdal
Sverre Olav succeeded his father as British Honorary Consul in Ålesund. Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists him as honorary consul with responsibility for Møre og Romsdal.
An entrepreneur with a background in the maritime sector, Sverre Olav has founded his own business and was involved in establishing Sverre Farstad & Co. The team and experience from that venture helped form the foundation for Norwind Offshore, where he was also involved from the outset. He now works in the family business, Tyrholm & Farstad, continuing the family’s connection with Ålesund’s shipping and logistics community.
He created this guide to make reliable local information and official services easier to find. The decorative motifs throughout the website are drawn from Farstadgården, connecting the guide’s visual identity with the family’s local heritage.
Both Otto Tyrholm and Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr. spent time in Hull. Sverre worked there in freight forwarding before moving to Ålesund in 1919 to join Otto’s business. The family’s British connection was rooted in everyday trade and shipping as well as consular service.
Helping Norwegian seamen
After leaving Norway with British troops from Åndalsnes in 1940, Sverre Andreas Farstad Sr. remained in England throughout the war. The Farstad Shipping history book describes his particular concern for Norwegian seamen who had been injured when their ships were sunk.
Sunningdale, England · 1941–1944
A Norwegian Home Guard unit
In an interview published in Norsk Tidend on 16 September 1944, Captain Sverre A. Farstad was described as the driving force behind the Norwegian Home Guard unit in Sunningdale. Its volunteers combined daytime work with military training and night watches. Serving within the British Home Guard, they were permitted to wear Norwegian insignia.
The Farstad Shipping history book adds a memorable detail: he gathered a company of 40 men and secured the British War Office’s approval through his considerable powers of persuasion. His ability to make a case to British authorities is an important part of the family’s account of his wartime contribution.
The 1944 article also records royal interest in the unit. Its accompanying photograph shows King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav visiting, with Captain Farstad identified in the caption. Farstad also recalled being introduced to the British king, who spoke with several of the Norwegian volunteers. This provides contemporary confirmation that George VI met members of the unit.
The later Farstad Shipping history book gives 40 men; Farstad’s wartime interview describes a usual strength of about 35, with men joining and leaving. The two accounts refer to a small volunteer unit.
King Haakon VII and Crown Prince Olav visiting the Norwegian Home Guard. A photograph from the same scene appears with Captain Farstad’s interview in Norsk Tidend, 16 September 1944; its caption names him. The visit itself is undated.An indoor scene from the Norwegian royal visit, as identified by Sverre Olav Farstad. The exact date has not been established.George VI meeting Home Guard members. The supplied series includes NORGE and SY 10 sleeve badges. The exact date and location of this photograph remain unconfirmed.
Photographs: Farstad collection, supplied by Sverre Olav Farstad. Photographers unknown. Select a photograph to view the full scan.
What the archive tells us about the George VI photographs
Egham Museum’s catalogue records photographs of the Norwegian Home Guard at Wentworth and Wellington Avenue, Virginia Water, dated broadly 1942–1944. Entry P521-3 specifically records George VI; another photograph in the series, P521-4, names Captain Farstad. These records and the visible sleeve badges support a connection with the Norwegian Home Guard story. They do not establish the precise date or site of the supplied photograph.
Sources: Farstad Shipping history book, family copy, pp. 203–204 and 207; Norsk Tidend (London), 16 September 1944, p. 7. The newspaper interview and photograph were checked on 6 October 2026.
The British Embassy in Oslo works with honorary consuls in several Norwegian cities. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ September 2026 directory lists the following colleagues outside Ålesund:
City
Honorary consul
Bergen
Arnfinn Seim
Bodø
Tore Mosand
Stavanger
Thomas Falck jr.
Tromsø
Harald Bredrup
Trondheim
Ole Petter Bjørseth
For routine questions, start with the official online services linked on our help page. The directory below provides published details of honorary consuls; confirm arrangements before visiting.
Checked 5 October 2026 against the September 2026 directory. Appointments and contact details may change. The Ministry’s directory also covers honorary consuls representing other countries in Norway.
Sources and further reading
Sverre Olav Farstad supplied the family account, photographs of the family’s medal collection and pages from the Farstad Shipping history book. Relevant passages cover the family relationship (p. 201), Hull, the 1951 appointment and wartime service (pp. 203–204), Sverre Farstad’s wartime experience, 1967 appointment and MBE in 1977 (pp. 207–208), and Andy Farstad’s studies and 1989 appointment (p. 211). The account above paraphrases those passages. An undated Sunnmørsposten clipping, “Eksklusiv britisk orden til konsul Sverre Farstad sen.”, supplied by Sverre Olav Farstad and read on 6 October 2026, confirms the OBE, its presentation in Oslo and the reasons for the award. The Sunningdale section also draws on the interview with Captain Sverre A. Farstad in Norsk Tidend (London), 16 September 1944, p. 7, consulted through the National Library of Norway. ARKIVET’s account of Nortraship life in Sunningdale helped locate this contemporary source. Other contemporary records and a local newspaper feature provide additional context. The individual biographies identify their sources, including the contemporary consular directory, Tyrholm & Farstad’s staff listing and the 2023 account of Andy’s assistance during the Viking Sky emergency. Biographical details supplied by the present consul also inform his profile; NETT NO’s 18 September 2023 report documents the organisational connection between Sverre Farstad & Co. and Norwind Offshore. The expanded biographies and honours guidance were checked on 6 October 2026.
