Rear Admiral Ole Morten Sandquist

Rear Admiral Sandquist is a native of Bergen, Norway. He is a graduate of the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy and was commissioned in 1992. He is also a graduate of the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham, UK (2007) and of the US Naval War College, Newport, RI (2011). He holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Defence Studies from King’s College Universities of London.

Sandquist’s initial sea tour was aboard submarines. He later served as Navigation Officer, Communications Officer and ASW Officer on the frigates Narvik, Bergen and Stavanger. On completion of the PWO Course, he served as department head and Operations Officer on the frigate Trondheim. From August 2003, Commander Sandquist was Operations Officer on board the first of class AEGIS frigate Fridtjof Nansen (F310). On his return from staff college in the UK he took command of Fridtjof Nansen for three years. His time in command included taking the new frigate from sea trials through work-up at the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) and into operations. He conducted a 6-month deployment off the horn of Africa as a part of EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta. He later commanded HNoMS Otto Sverdrup (F312) for a shorter period. He has more than 17 years of sea duty and has had several tours with the Standing NATO Maritime Groups.

Ashore, Sandquist served with the New Norwegian Frigate Program (P6088), where he worked with the bridge systems and CIC layout. He also served on the staff of the Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy as senior staff officer. On completion of the US Naval Command College in Newport, Rhode Island he was promoted to Captain (N) and served three years in a Joint position as Commander J3-5 (future operations) at the National Joint Headquarters (NJHQ).

Sandquist’s assignments as Commodore (OF-6) include the position as Commander Norwegian Fleet and Commander Norwegian Task Group. He also commanded Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) in 2017. Sandquist was promoted to Rear Admiral in July 2018 and serves as Norway’s Defense Attaché in Washington, DC.

His personal awards include the Defense Medal with 1 star for 30 years of service, The Norwegian Police Medal with distinction/laurel, The Navy’s Medal of Merit for commanding SNMG1, Service Medal with 3 stars for more than 15 years of service in the Navy, the Norwegian Armed Forces Operations Medal for counter piracy operations off the horn of Africa and the European Union Naval Force Medal Operation Atalanta.