Kristine Hartmann remembers getting a haircut at 12 years old, and being asked what she wanted to be when she grew up.

"I said I wanted to be independent," Hartmann said. "I grew up in the 70s and 80s when women's rights hit home, when it started to be understood that regardless of what you do, you should not be dependent on a man to provide for you."

Hartmann, now 47, lived up to her 12-year-old ideals, and worked her way through Norway's Aker Group, first at krill and biotech group Aker Biomarine, then on to C4IR Ocean, a foundation jointly founded by Aker and the World Economic Forum.