Another world. I was aware of how things have changed when a twelve year old grandchild was about to attend a football camp and with all the “helicopter parenting”, including car transport and constant contact via mobile phone, all things quite natural nowadays. In 1953 I was myself twelve years old and going to a camp for birdwatchers. One of the highlights there was a meeting with Mr Erik Rosenberg, the legendary author of iconic books on birds and the father of ornithology in Sweden. I did get a lift there by my parents, but going home after two weeks, I had to take the train, involving three train changes and upon arrival at a small station in the forest, trying to find my bike, forwarded a few days earlier, in the station shed. Having found it, I continued in the August night through the forest for two hours, until I reached the little cottage, lacking both electricity and telephone, where we spent our summers. At the time I thought all that quite ordinary, but all the overprotectiveness with the grandchild revealed to me the difference between now and then. Well, there were also many similar tough excursions in and around central Sweden and to the mountains of the north during my early years. So when having finished high school, the next step seemed obvious, it ought to be something to do with nature.

But things do not always turn out as planned. After having finished my military service I was convinced by a friend to try the Stockholm School of Economics instead. My inclination for nature slowly switched to an interest in journeys to exotic countries, something my wife, Ulla forcefully contributed to. After an internship in a bank in Paris, we drove with our scooter to Morocco and return, this was in 1965.

After having passed my examination at the Stockholm School of Economics it was time to travel again, but this time to India. We acquired a well used Volkswagen minibus for 500 SEK (50 USD), almost nothing, but admittedly repaired it for a song in Germany. This was in 1968, the year that also saw the hippie trail to India. Our trip there and back again took almost half a year. At those times little development had taken place in the countries we visited and the experience, would it at all be possible to do today! It was also of sorts, a journey back in time. All in all, during that half a year we spent about 12.000 SEK (1.200 USD), this including the purchase of the car, repairs, petrol and food for ourselves. Though we see another monetary value today, it was even then considered an achievement having survived on so little. As we got home, we had 50 SEK in the wallet, as much as we got for the car from the scrapyard. In India the dormant interest in nature was revived and many a national park was visited, India has a fascinating fauna, comparable to Africa, albeit on a smaller scale. We saw most of what was on offer except the tiger. We would later return to make up for that.


After all, now was the time to start working, or? But only after a few years in a bank in Sweden, the urge to go abroad made itself present again, with the result of me in 1973 applying and then getting a job at Agricultural Finance Corporation in Nairobi on a two year contract. The family had now increased with two children (two more were to come later). Of course we benefitted to be so close to the nature of Africa, we purchased camping equipment and a Land Cruiser and I was called “ Mr Always On Safari” in the bank. Apart from extensive safaris in East Africa, we made together with friends a three-week-long safari into the rainforest of Congo with gorillas and all!

The gnawing feeling that perhaps the time had come to settle down and begin to reflect on a future and a possible career in business or industry, now began to be felt. During an interview with an investment company I was asked to make an account of what I had done so far. I told him all, but when coming to the India trip, I noticed the CEO looked questioning, should one not start working directly after university?

I had heard that he himself also was interested in far-flung countries, so I thought now or never. Of course, it is important to commence your career early, I said. But before that I wanted to trek towards Annapurna in the Himalaya, sail in the Bay of Bengal and track tigers in the south of India. I saw his chin falling down to his chest, when he exclaimed, wow, I would have liked to do that, too! Then, the job as financial director was mine.


After a few years there, I was offered the position as managing director of a conglomerate of distributing companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. I had long had a romantic view of the classic Swedish trading houses, who often from a base in Gothenburg in far away difficult to reach markets, sold Swedish industrial products. They were established at a time of almost non existing physical and telegraphic means of contact. Some of these have successfully survived adapted to modern circumstances. I now got the chance to acquire some of these, among them also in Hong Kong. The individuals who had established these trading houses, often more than a century ago, could perhaps be compared to the Linnaeus Apostles. Instead of researching nature, they researched a possible demand for Swedish products where they worked. It is easy to imagine what a fascinating world these entrepreneurs at the time was part of.

The year 1993 saw me being offered the job as managing director of a listed, large investment company, Atle AB with a view to investing in Swedish companies with a future development potential. For me personally and, I dare say, also for the shareholders it was a period of success until 2001, the year when Atle AB was acquired by two other companies, one of whom a British. Even here some prominent trading companies were acquired (I could not resist the charm of their business!), one of them the oldest trading house of Sweden in Japan, established little more than a century after Carl Peter Thunberg, the Apostle, who arrived in Japan 1775, disguised as a Dutch trader, to make pioneer botanical discoveries. He is rightly called the Linnaeus of Japan. On the way there he remained a couple of years in the Cape colony, where he made an inventory of and naming the local flora.

After 2001 I have had a number of directorships in various companies, among them chairman of Swedfund AB, the Swedish Government’s company for investments in Africa.

As can be understood from above my work as managing director for 13 years in two listed companies, has involved lots of travelling, and wherever possible I have tried to find an excuse to visit a nearby national park, always with my binoculars and the local bird guide at hands. So the interest in nature has survived and given me energy for my often stressful and intense job in the companies I have been put to run.

For all this, it was very rewarding when the members of The IK Foundation Messrs the late Per Wahlström and Lars Hansen asked me in 2002 to be one of the three ambassadors for the project of the big set of volumes, the Linnaeus Apostles, comprising 11 books. I felt that my life, involving nature and travels to exotic countries, without any other comparison, could in my own imagination have a slight resemblance with the Apostles.



My contribution was to seek out financing for this important international work. The IK Foundation has the right to be proud of having succeeded in finally landing this large project. Something not done without, idealism, hard work and perseverance, virtues to be found in quantity among those behind IK.