Executive board

Hörður Arnarson, CEO of Landsvirkjun, has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from DTU in Denmark. Hörður graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Iceland in 1986, then continued his studies at DTU and graduated with a doctoral degree in 1990.

Hörður began working at food-processing experts Marel in 1985, and was CEO there for ten years, from 1999 to 2009.

In 2009, from May to November, Hörður was CEO at the insurance company Sjóvá and led its financial restructuring.

Deputy CEO Kristín Linda Árnadóttir qualified as a lawyer at the University of Iceland and has a Master’s in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science (LUMES) from Lund University, Sweden, and a Master’s in European Law (LL.M) from the Faculty of Law at Lund.

Kristín served as Director General of the Environment Agency from 2008 to 2019 and previously worked for the Ministry for the Environment.

Executive vice president Gunnar Guðni Tómasson has a doctorate in Hydrodynamics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Gunnar Guðni used to be CEO of HRV Engineering, and before that he was Dean of the School of Science and Engineering at Reykjavík University for four years.

After completing his studies in 1991, and until he began working at Reykjavík University in 2007, he held various engineering and management positions at the engineering consultancies Vatnaskil and VST, in addition to being an associate professor for some years in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Iceland.

Executive vice president Einar Mathiesen holds a Cand.oecon degree and an MSc in Management and Policy Making from the University of Iceland.

Einar began working at Landsvirkjun in 2001, first as head of operations for the Energy Division. In early 2008, he took over as executive vice president of the Energy Division, which he managed for 13 years in addition to chairing the company’s emergency committee. Before joining Landsvirkjun, for 11 years Einar was a chief executive in municipal governments.

Executive vice president Rafnar Lárusson has an MSc in Finance from Boston College. Previously he was vice president of treasury at Actavis Group, where he was responsible for the group’s treasury management. He worked as director of treasury at Bakkavör Group 2004–2007.

In 1999–2004, Rafnar was a specialist in the finance departments of the retail company Hagar and Rio Tinto Alcan, in addition to working as a specialist in proprietary trading at Kaupþing Bank.

In 2017, Tinna Traustadóttir graduated from Reykjavík University with an MBA, and she also has an MSc in Pharmacology from the University of Iceland.

She worked at Actavis for almost 14 years, gaining a wide experience of business development and contract negotiation in an international environment. In 2005–2014 Tinna worked for Actavis in the US, the biggest pharmaceutical market in the world.

Ríkarður Ríkarðsson graduated with a BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Denver in 2000, and an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2002. He completed the PED course at IMD, Lausanne, in 2017.

Ríkarður has worked at Landsvirkjun since 2011, and for the last five years he was executive director of Business Development and Marketing. Ríkarður was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in 2009–2011. In 2006–2009 Ríkarður worked as executive director and advisor for Icelandic finance companies, and in 2002–2006 for an American tech company in Silicon Valley, managing its European business development from London.

Jóna Bjarnadóttir began working at Landsvirkjun in 2014, and since 2017 she has led the Environment and Resources department. She has a Master’s in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University. Jóna has extensive experience of environmental issues and collaboration with stakeholders.

Previously Jóna worked as a consultant, including for a long time at the engineering consultancy firm Mannvit, where she also supervised the environmental management system.

Ásbjörg has worked at Landsvirkjun intermittently since 2002, recently as executive director of the Planning and Construction Division. Ásbjörg supervised the construction of the Búrfellsstöð II Hydropower Station, the first woman in Iceland to supervise such a project. She has a PhD in Engineering Management from MIT.