Jens Lauritz Arup (20 April 1793 – 9 April 1874) was a Norwegian bishop and politician. He was born in Kristiansand, where his father was a sexton and a school teacher. In 1811 he was sent to Copenhagen to study, but had to end his studies due to lack of funds. After returning to Norway he worked for a while as a teacher, until he could take his theological exam at the University in Christiania (today's Oslo).[1] In the following years he worked in Ullensaker, Drammen and Bragernes. He was made Bishop of Christiania in 1846, and remained in the position until 1874.[2]
Arup was also involved in politics, and in 1836 he was elected into the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) for Drammen constituency, where he was reelected in 1839, 1842 and 1845.[3] He was later appointed temporarily councillor of state in interim for the Norwegian government in Sweden in the years 1852–53, 1857 and 1861.[4] Both as a bishop and a politician he was a proponent of religious toleration for Protestant dissenters, and helped pass legislation towards this goal in 1845.[3] He was also in favour of greater liberty from the state for the Norwegian church.[1] In 1860, Arup crowned Charles XV of Sweden king of Norway in Nidarosdomen in Trondeim.[1]