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Find your drive

There are opportunities everywhere. We all have a built-in ability to improve ourselves, but not everyone has found it yet. I have been down in the darkest depths and fought my way through the toughest challenges, and I have learned from it. I use these extreme experiences to guide people from all backgrounds through their own challenges, so they can reach their full potential.
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My story

I grew up on the small, safe island of Bolsøya outside Molde. For a long time, football was all I cared about, and I had my whole future ahead of me. When I started secondary school, I became an outsider: I had the wrong clothes, the wrong shoes, and came from the countryside. I figured out that money was the ticket in, and started small by taking a few hundred kroner from my grandfather’s wallet. I bought myself friends, but it wasn’t going to stop there.

When I was dropped from Molde’s youth team, I ended up in the bodybuilding scene, and eventually got a job as a bouncer. That put me in a different crowd, with a party culture where different kinds of drugs flowed freely. I moved between Oslo, Molde, Bergen and Trondheim, financing the party with everything from welfare fraud to GHB production. After I supplied two guns to Kristin Kirkemo that were tragically later used at the Orderud farm, I became nationally known as “The Gun Man from Molde.” The attention gave me credibility in the criminal world, but the long party was starting to take its toll.

I made more and more mistakes, and it didn’t take long from being released from one prison before I was arrested again. The last time, a police officer named Kjellbjørn sat down beside me, put his arm around my shoulder and said: “How are you really doing, Arman? This doesn’t look so good.” That became the first ray of light in what had been a long road toward the abyss. For the first time in a long while, I felt that someone cared about me – not about what I could deliver in illegal goods, but about me – Arman.

Turning things around wasn’t easy. I was deeply addicted, had a long criminal record and had stopped hoping. Mentally, I was a wreck. The next person who stepped in was a prison officer named Mette. She helped me understand that I had to swallow my pride, ask for help, and she got me into rehab.

Even today I can struggle with worries, finances and sleepless nights. The most important thing I’ve learned is that I can ask for help, that helping others leads to better sleep, and that the most important thing we have is each other – the flock.

The Human Aspect of Arman

Growing up I felt like an outsider without place to fit in in the community. Money became my way of making friends, but this slowly turned into a life of heavy crime and addition.

See how I managed to find a way out of the crime and my addiction, when I saw that people believed in me. Learn how I created the happy and fulfilling life that I always dreamed of.

A better everyday life

Lead to Gold

Read the story of Arman – The Gun Man who came in from the cold.

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Arman in the media

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The Gun Man from Molde

Arman Vestad saw the Orderud case as a PR campaign, even though he was already a rare piece of Norwegian criminal history.
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The police are doing everything they can, but it’s not enough

On Tuesday, Se og Hør revealed that the police are doing their job – reaching out to those at risk of falling into the hands of criminals.
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From interest rate peak to interest rate stop?

The price hikes in the shops are clearly felt, but interest rates matter more for people with loans.
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Is there such a thing as good selfishness?

I want the people around me to thrive, and I go to great lengths to make that happen. 
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Are you also sick and tired of well-meaning savings tips?

I notice that part of my own brain resists following my own good advice on cutting costs and saving.
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Podcast

A Runner's Life #117 – Arman Vestad: From crime to becoming a runner

This podcast episode is available in English only.

In episode 117, I spoke with Arman Vestad who was a former criminal and drug addict. He now owes his life to two of the things that made his remarkable transformation possible: running and kindness.

In the past, Arman spent a lot of his time on the run. Through a series of poor life choices and unfortunate circumstances, he had found himself dealing drugs and engaging in other kinds of criminal activity. 

As he jogged, ran, and pushed himself back to health and a normal life, he also embarked on a new career as a debt adviser for Norway's welfare administration. He later became an international public speaker, an advocate for bringing reformed criminals back into work and society, and (most importantly) a father.

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#7 Arman Vestad – Life as a gangster

This podcast episode is available in Norwegian only.

Å levere drapsvåpenet til Kristin Kirkeacmo kjent fra Orderud saken var grei skuring”. En verden utenkelig for mange, men forståelig når vedkommende også følte at det var helt naturlig å rusle seg en tur ned Karl Johan med to 30-liters kanner med GHB.

Antrekket Arman Vestad hadde sier noe om tilstanden; bleika flippskjegg, bar overkropp, skalla med maskara, snekkerbukse, svømmebriller og høyhælte Buffalo sko. Arman var sjef.. i sin verden.

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Young Blood – Men's Mental Health

This podcast episode is available in English only.

Arman Vestad is Young Blood's first international guest, hailing all the way from Norway.

He's been a drug addict, a dealer and all round criminal who was in the game for a decade till he did time in prison after being caught supplying guns used in a murder…

Arman was lost and hopeless till someone showed faith in him and gave him a chance to apply the skills he'd developed in the underworld to business.

Since those dark days, Arman's gone on to become a family man, a public speaker and a mental health advocate who's currently running across his home country on tour.

Arman's proof that it's never too late to change your life.    

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Everyday Psychology – debt, suicide and mental health

This podcast episode is available in Norwegian only.

How are debt, shame, suicide and mental health connected, and what are some concrete steps you can take to improve your situation? How can challenges tied to the pandemic era have consequences for the health of the population when it comes to debt and mental health?

Arne Holte is Professor Emeritus of Health Psychology at the University of Oslo. He is the former Deputy Director of Mental Health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. He explores these questions in depth and reflects on relevant research in the field.

In this episode you will also hear a shorter segment from Arman Vestad, a previous guest on the podcast. Vestad has nearly 15 years of experience as a financial adviser at NAV, and a tough personal history as a former criminal where debt and money played a major role.

So just hit play and learn more!    

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Do you have questions?
Get in touch.

With Arman on your team, you can create inspiration for change. We can build flexible solutions and tailor-made programs that fit your exact needs. We’re happy to answer questions and hear your wishes – with no obligation!

Contact Arman