Åke Ortmark

Swedish journalist, writer, and television program host (1929–2018)

Åke Ortmark
Ortmark at the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2007
Born	Åke Helge Ortmark (1929-05-14)14 May 1929 Stockholm, Sweden
Died	18 October 2018(2018-10-18) (aged 89) Gothenburg, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish

Åke Helge Ortmark (14 May 1929 – 18 October 2018) was a Swedish journalist, author and radio and television presenter.^[1] During a long career he worked for both television and radio; he also authored several books.

Early life

Ortmark was born in Stockholm, and grew up in Ålsten.^[2]

During the early 1950s he studied economics at the University of California in the United States.^[3] Ortmark earned a Master of Science in Business and Economics at Handelshögskolan in Stockholm in 1954.^[4]

Career

Ortmark started working at Sveriges Radio in 1958.^[5] He was for some time a newsreader for Aktuellt which was broadcast on Sveriges Television.^[6] Together with Herbert Söderström, Ortmark pioneered the technique named "Skjutjärnsjournalistik" (hard-hitting journalism) in Swedish, on Sveriges Radio in 1962.^[7]^[8] As part of "De tre O:na", he became known for using the technique alongside Lars Orup and Gustaf Olivecrona in live broadcast on Sveriges Television in 1966 while interviewing Prime Minister Tage Erlander.^[4]

Ortmark became the editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Veckans Affärer between 1974 and 1976.^[9] In 1997, he was the television presenter for his own interview show O som i Ortmark which was broadcast on TV8 until 2006, by which time Ortmark decided to leave to work for Axess TV.^[10]

Ortmark received the television award Kristallen in 2005 in the category Stiftelsens hederspris (the Foundation's Honour Award) for his work in TV and dedication for news and discussions.^[11]

On 25 June 2006, Ortmark took part in Sommar i P1 talking about his career and life.^[12] In 2008, he was member of Humanisternas (the humanists) council.^[13]

In 2013, Ortmark published his memoirs called Makten och lögnen – ett liv i televisionens Sverige which told about his career in journalism.^[8]

Personal life

Åke Ortmark in 1961 married Sinikka Tenhunen.^[14] After his divorce, he married Annika Roth in 1974.^[15] Ortmark was the father of three children.^[2]

Ortmark had a black belt in karate.^[16]

Ortmark died on 18 October 2018 after a short time of illness at the age of 89.^[8]

Bibliography

1963 – Sveket mot konsumenterna^[17]
1967 – Maktspelet i Sverige^[17]
1969 – De okända makthavarna^[17]
1971 – Maktens redskap, ISBN 91-46-11637-0^[17]
1972 – Den inre cirkeln, ISBN 91-46-11726-1^[17]
1977 – Lamco!, ISBN 91-46-13028-4^[17]
1981 – Skuld och makt, ISBN 91-46-13891-9^[17]
1985 – Maktens människor, ISBN 91-46-15028-5^[17]
1996 – Ja-sägarna, ISBN 91-7964-189-X^[17]
2013 – Makten och lögnen: ett liv i televisionens Sverige, ISBN 978-91-0-012462-5^[16]

Filmography

1973 – Makt på spel (TV series)^[18]

References

^ "Åke Ortmark". Vem är det (in Swedish). 1993. pp. 859–860. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
^ ^a ^b Svahn, Clas (19 October 2018). "Journalisten Åke Ortmark är död". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Åke Ortmark: 'Jag försökte ta livet av mig'" (in Swedish). dagensps.se. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Åke Ortmark skrämde makten – förändrade intervjuerna i tv". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Journalisten Åke Ortmark är död". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ Nyheter, S. V. T. (19 October 2018). "Journalisten Åke Ortmark har avlidit". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Skjutjärnsjournalistik". Nationalencyklopedin (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Journalisten Åke Ortmark är död" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 19 October 2018. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Åke Ortmark död blev 89 år gammal" (in Swedish). MSN. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Åke Ortmark slutar på TV8". Resumé (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "SVT tog storslam på första Kristallgalan". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 13 September 2005. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ Sommarvärdar 2006 – hela listan – Sommar & Vinter i P1 (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Välkommen till förbundet Humanisterna!". Humanisterna (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Arkivet – Ortmark 1". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Arkivet – Ortmark". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Åke Ortmark" (in Swedish). Albert Bonniers Förlag. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Åke Ortmark". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
^ "Makt på spel" (in Swedish). Svenskfilmdatabas. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.