Hippe has a PhD from the University of Bergen, a degree in political science and is a professor ll at the Norwegian business school - BI.
Hippe, who will be leaving Norwegian insurance conglomerate Storebrand where he was executive vice president of Storebrand ASA as well as vice administrative director of Storebrand Liv, has also been head of research at FAFO and guest researcher at Harvard University.
His appointment takes effect September 1. Hippe will meet with corporate management on a regular basis.
Telenor's current director of communications, Heidi Kvernevik, will be starting a one-year sabbatical as of September 1.