Aamot, who was chief executive at Norwegian publisher Schibsted from 1989 to 2009, will take on the role from 1 August.

He is credited with transforming Schibsted from a family-owned business to an international multimedia company.

Aamot will continue to serve as a non-executive member of the board of French free newspaper publisher 20Minutes, in which Schibsted has a 50% interest.

He also has roles at Swiss sales and marketing organisation PubliGroupe and Oslo-based private equity firm FSN Capital.

Johnston Press chairman Ian Russell said: "Kjell will be a tremendous asset to Johnston Press and I am delighted to welcome him to our board.  He brings an excellent track record in managing change in the media sector, which will be of immense value to us."

Aamot has been very outspoken in the past about the future of publishing being away from the printed newspaper model.

He has reportedly put his career on the line on more than one occasion to secure online acquisitions for Schibsted, so it will be interesting to see if he has any influence over Johnston Press's online activity, which currently comprises nearly 300 local websites.