Starting his career with McKinsey & company’s Nordics Offices in Copenhagen and Oslo, Thommessen later spent 15 years as a senior executive of multinational companies. His assignments included General Manager Norsk Hydro Notodden, Deputy CEO IBM Nordics, President & CEO of IBM Norway, General Manager Internet Services IBM Europe, Middle East & Africa out of Paris, and President & CEO of Glamox.
The past 20 years Thommessen has combined his commitment to sustainability/social impact and entrepreneurship/investments. He was Chairman of Save the Children Norway, Board Member of Save the Children Global Alliance and Save the Children Germany. He was the Founding Director of UNDP’s Private Sector Division in New York. In this capacity Thommessen and UNDP implemented programs and became a global advocate of impact investing, later becoming Vice Chair responsAbility investments AG one of the world’s largest impact investment fund managers, while creating a Nordic market for such investments by establishing responsAbility Nordics AS. Thommessen has co-founded, invested in and/or chaired a number of companies, especially in the venture ICT sector, of which notably Opera Software, a USD 2 billion internet software company, in disruptive tech-based companies like EVO Fitness, and climate tech ventures like CHOOOSE and Zerolytics, as well as in real estate development with Hovedstaden Utvikling AS.
Thommessen has held a number of board and advisory positions for the EU and the Norwegian Government, including as member of EU’s e-Europe Steering Committee, Board Member of Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has served on the boards of a number of Scandinavian listed and private companies, such as Tomra Systems ASA and Kistefos AS, a private investment company.
Thommessen currently actively invests in and builds, as co-founder/Chair/Board of Directors member, a portfolio of impact companies; Climate-tech/CHOOOSE and Zerolytics, Edutech/Eduplation, Health/SPOND and EVO. He remains committed to social entrepreneurship; until recently as Chairman of the Prospera Foundation, engaging professionals in pro bono social entrepreneurship, and Board of Directors member of Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers.