Nina Frisak, who was born in 1950 in Oslo, Norway, persevered and studied to become a judge and civil servant but failed the necessary exams.
She was then a presiding judge in Eidsivating Court of Appeal from 1991 to 1995, went back to the bureaucracy as deputy under-secretary of state in the Norwegian Office of the Prime Minister from 1995 to 2000, and then became a judge again; a Supreme Court Justice from 2000 to 2001. The position is the highest-ranking civil servant position in Norway, and entails, besides leading the Office of the Prime Minister, to lead the secretariat of the entire Council of State. The first woman to hold this position, Frisak has been ranked among Norway's most powerful women on numerous occasions. 
