January 1 – The Agency for Public Management and eGovernment is established.[1]
January 1 – Nordic Battlegroup consisting of military forces from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, and Estonia under the control of the European Union, is established.[2]
January 1 – Mercury becomes banned from use in Norway.[3]
January 11 – Norwegian police announce that they have arrested a 55-year-old man suspected of being the sexual predator known as The Pocket Man.[4]
13 January – A school in Lørenskog is closed after threats of a school shooting came from a video on YouTube. A 15-year-old was arrested for the threat.
January 21 – The OBX Index drops 6.4%, then the second biggest fall since August 1991 and the third largest in its history.[5][6]
February 14 – A political case centering on Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen forces her to resign from her post as Minister of Children and Equality and Ida Hjort Kraby to resign from her newly appointed position as Ombudsman for Children in Norway.[8]
February 21 – An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the moment magnitude scale hits Svalbard. This oblique-slip shock had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IV (Light) and was the strongest earthquake ever to hit Norway.[9]
February 26 – The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is officially opened.[11]
28 February – Three people were arrested in Oslo, accused of having participated in the financing of terrorist acts abroad.
February 29 – Anniken Huitfeldt is appointed Minister of Children and Equality.[12]
February – Former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland is entangled in a political scandal over cancer treatments paid for by the Norwegian state, which she was not entitled to having previously changed her residency abroad.[13]
March[]
March 1 – Austrian Matthias Lanzinger collides with a gate during a World CupSuper-G run at Kvitfjell, resulting in injuries that lead to his left leg being amputated below the knee two days later.[14]
28 March – Norway recognizes Kosovo as an independent state.
April[]
12 April – Official opening of the Oslo Opera House.
September – 2008 psychic phone call controversy: it was revealed that the Norwegian politician Saera Khan had racked up extremely high phone bills using the mobile phone with which she was provided for free by the Parliament.[16]
July[]
August[]
September[]
September 9 – The OBX Index drops 5.57%, then the fourth biggest drop ever.[5][6]
September 29 – In conjunction with the financial crisis of 2007–2008 the OBX Index of the Oslo Stock Exchange drops 8.3%, then its third largest drop ever in one day, but eclipsed only one week later.[17]
October[]
October 6 – The OBX Index drops 9.71%, the third largest drop ever in one day.[6]
October – Bangladeshi-Norwegian parliamentarian for the Labour PartySaera Khan withdraws her candidacy for next year's elections when it is revealed that she has spent large sums using her parliament paid-for mobile phone to call psychic hotlines and then consistently lied to cover up the fact.[19]
October – Controversy erupts when British writer and Holocaust denierDavid Irving is invited to the 2009 Norwegian Festival of Literature at Lillehammer, to discuss his concept of truth,[20] ending in Irving's invitation being withdrawn.[21] Author Stig Sæterbakken resigns as the festival's content director in protest over the decision.[22]
This section needs expansion. You can help by . (September 2010)
Sports[]
October – Tromsø's bid to become host city to the 2018 Winter Olympics is cancelled when the sports board of Norwegian Confederation of Sports votes 9 against 3 to withdraw the application for government financial guarantee.[26]
200 years since the birth of the poet Henrik Wergeland on June 17, 1808[27]
100 years since Norway national football team played its first international game on July 12, 1908, in Gothenburg, Sweden[28]
100 years since the sports club SK Brann was established (September 26).[29]
100 years since the birth of the poet Olav H. Hauge on August 18, 1908[30]
100 years since the birth of the composer and pianist Geirr Tveitt October 19, 1908[31]
70 years since the death of Queen Maud of Norway on November 20, 1938[32]
Sport[]
Further information: 2008 in Norwegian football
January – The 2008 European Men's Handball Championship is hosted by the Norwegian Handball Federation with venues in Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim.
^Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (December 27, 2007). "About DIFI". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved March 9, 2008.
^Bans mercury in products, Press release, December 21, 2007, Minister of the Environment and International Development Erik Solheim Bans mercury in products – regjeringen.no
^ abLandre, Even (September 9, 2008). "Krisetemning på børsen". NA24 (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
^ abc"Panikken tok børsen". e24.no (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. October 6, 2008. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved October 6, 2008.
^Magnus, Klever (September 29, 2008). "Verste dag på 17 år". NA24 (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
^Øverbye, Gulbrand (October 8, 2008). "Et av tidenes største børsfall". NA24 (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
^Magnus, Gunnar; Geir Salvesen; Stine Barstad (October 9, 2008). "Khan tar ikke gjenvalg". Aftenposten. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
^Rakvaag, Geir (October 7, 2008). "Irving fortsatt invitert". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). Oslo. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
^Svendsen, Paal Adolfsen (October 15, 2008). "Kraftig nedgang på Oslo Børs". NRK (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
^Bjørhovde, Bjørn. "Einar Sverre Pedersen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^Banken, Jan Roger. "Så det store i det små". Lokalavisa Sør-Østerdal (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
^"Marie Takvam er død". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway. NTB. January 28, 2008. Archived from the original on January 30, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
^Fotland, Maiken Nøtsund; Morten Sandal (February 12, 2008). "Døde på trening". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on February 13, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
^Death announcement, Bergens Tidende 18 March 2008
^Elster, Ellen (2008). "Guri Tambs-Lyche er død"(PDF). fred og frihet (in Norwegian). 68 (2): 4. Archived from the original(PDF) on July 24, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
^. "Victor Sparre". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^"Bjørg Gaselle". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^"Eivind H. Solberg". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^Høisæther, Ole Rikard. "Haaken A Christensen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^"Erik Borge". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^Johansen, Elin Reffhaug (May 19, 2008). "Tove Bye er død". Budstikka (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on May 20, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.
^"Ottar Grønvik". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^Arntzen, Jon Gunnar. "Christian Lerche". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^Manka, Stian (June 11, 2008). "Gunnar Solum er død". Trønder-Avisa (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
^Atlar, Christin (July 12, 2008). "Erling Rønneberg er død". Østlandets Blad (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on August 14, 2008. Retrieved July 23, 2008.
^Larsen, Øivind. "Kåre Rodahl". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^Berglund, Nina (July 14, 2008). "Actor dead at 93". Aftenposten. Archived from the original on July 15, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2008.
^Kvalvik, Bent. "Tore Breda Thoresen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^"Rolf Bae". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^Rottem, Øystein. "Helge Hagerup". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^Kristiansen, Arnhild Aass (September 6, 2008). "Aril Edvardsen er død". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
^Gatland, Jan Olav. "Tormod Haugen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^"Helge Fæhn". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^Tveterås, Egil. "Nils Kåre Jacobsen". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
^"John Klemetsen". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.
^"Kjartan Slettemark död". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). TT. December 13, 2008. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
^Hedeman, Anders (December 15, 2008). "Anne-Cath. Vestly er død". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2008.
^"Frank Krog". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 December 2021.