Jakob Bjelland became State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport on 3^rd January 2022.

Prior to this he was Head of Department at Sunnhordland Kraftlag, and has previously held leading positions in various companies within the supply industry to the maritime sector and the oil & gas industry. He has also worked in the Norwegian defence industry. During the period 2015-2022 he was Vice Chairman of the Council of the Municipality of Stord, and in periods Acting Chairman. He functioned as Deputy Member to Stortinget between 2009-2017 and 2021-2022, County Councillor in Hordaland and Member of the Board and Vice Chairman of Hordaland Centre Party. Bjelland is a Chartered Engineer (equivalent to an MSc) in physics and mathematics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.