| Per Ditlev-Simonsen | |
| Order: | 64th |
| Office: | Mayor of Oslo |
| Term Start: | 25 October 1995 |
| Term End: | 29 August 2007 |
| Deputy: | Svenn Kristiansen |
| 1Blankname: | Governing Mayor |
| 1Namedata: | Rune Gerhardsen Fritz Huitfeldt Erling Lae |
| Predecessor: | Ann-Marit Sæbønes |
| Successor: | Svenn Kristiansen |
| Office2: | Minister of Defence |
| Term Start2: | 16 October 1989 |
| Term End2: | 3 November 1990 |
| Predecessor2: | Johan Jørgen Holst |
| Successor2: | Johan Jørgen Holst |
| Primeminister2: | Jan P. Syse |
| Constituency3: | Oslo |
| Office3: | Member of the Norwegian Parliament |
| Term Start3: | 1 October 1981 |
| Term End3: | 30 September 1985 |
| Birth Date: | 12 June 1932 |
| Birth Place: | Oslo, Norway |
| Nationality: | Norwegian |
| Party: | Conservative |
| Relations: | Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Sr (grandfather) Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Jr (uncle) John Ditlev-Simonsen (uncle) |
| Children: | Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen |
| Residence: | Oslo, Norway |
| Alma Mater: | Stanford University |
| Occupation: | Shipping magnate |
Per Ditlev-Simonsen (born 12 June 1932) is a Norwegian politician. He was the mayor of Oslo, representing the Conservative Party, from 1995 to 2007. He stepped down on 23 August 2007 following the Swiss bank-account scandal.
Ditlev-Simonsen was an officer of the Norwegian Royal Guards, and he later attended Stanford University getting a Master of Arts degree. After college, Ditlev-Simonsen became a partner in his father's shipping company Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen & Co (SDS) in 1955. He was a partner in the company until 1995.
Ditlev-Simonsen was a Member of Parliament from 1981 to 1985, serving in the Standing Committee of Finance. From 1989 to 1990 Ditlev-Simonsen was Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Jan P. Syse.
Ditlev-Simonsen was born in Oslo to ship owner Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen and Lily Kaurin. He was a grandson of Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Sr, and nephew of Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen Jr. He was married to Benedicte Werring (d. 1990) from 1960, and to Turi Klaveness from 1992.[1]
In August 2007, the presence of a hitherto unknown Swiss bank account was revealed. The revelation came after an acrimonious divorce involving his daughter, Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen, the communications director of Norsk Hydro.[2] The account, which contained NOK 1.5 million had been inherited by Ditlev-Simonsen after his wife died in 1990, and he eventually admitted to not having paid the Norwegian wealth tax on it.[3]
The revelation caused several opposition politicians to call for Ditlev-Simonsen's resignation. Erna Solberg, the head of the Conservative Party, asked that Ditlev- Simonsen refrain from active campaigning for his party ahead of the local elections scheduled for 10 September. Even if he had not resigned, the 75 year old Ditlev-Simonsen was set to retire after the election.[4] The incident was believed to be a cause of the Conservative's 4 percent drop in opinion polls, three weeks ahead of the election.[5]