Bjørn Arild Gram (Centre Party) became Minister of Local Government and Regional Development on 14 October 2021. On April 14th 2022 he was appointed Minister of Defence in the same government. 

Prior to that, he was chair of the board of the Norwegian Association of Local & Regional Authorities (KS) from February 2020 to October 2021.

Gram served as mayor of Steinkjer Municipality from 2007 to 2020, and has been deputy chair of KS's Executive Board since 2012. He holds a master's degree in economics and business administration and has also studied history, economics, management and administration.

Bjørn Arild Gram headed a department at Telenor Mobil from 2000 to 2004. He was also state secretary in the Ministry of Finance from 2005 to 2007, political adviser in the Storting and political secretary to County Council Chair Kolbjørn Almlid. 

He served on the board of Nord-Trøndelag Hospital Trust from 2012 to 2020 and is an attending deputy member of the board of the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway.

Gram was county leader of the Centre Party in Nord-Trøndelag from 2004 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2012.

He was a county council representative in Nord-Trøndelag County Authority from 1995 to 2019.