Astrup worked in management consulting at Arkwright from 2000 until 2002. Between 2001 and 2008 he was the editor of the conservative periodical Minerva. Prior to his election to parliament, Astrup worked as political adviser for the Conservative Party parliamentary group and political adviser to the Governing Mayor of OsloErling Lae from 2008 until 2009.
Political career
Ahead of the 2009 election for parliament, Astrup was nominated as the Conservative Party's fourth candidate for Oslo, considered the last safe seat; he defeated Inge Lønning in the nomination. Astrup was elected Member of Parliament in 2009 and leader of the Conservative Party in Oslo in 2012 and has previously been leader of the Oslo Norwegian Young Conservatives. Ahead of the election in 2013 Astrup was nominated as the second candidate for Oslo, behind the Minister of Defence, Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide. Due to his relatively young age, he was considered a rising star in the party at the time. After the elections, Astrup was appointed as vice-chair of the Conservative Party Parliamentary Group, and he was re-appointed to this position after the 2017 election. In parliament, Astrup sat on the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment from 2009-2015, and from 2016-2017 he chaired the Standing Committee on Transport and Communication. After the election in 2017 he was appointed chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and is the Conservative's spokesperson on issues relating to these issues. For a number of years Astrup was also spokesperson on European affairs. In his capacity as minister, Astrup was appointed by United Nations Secretary GeneralAntónio Guterres in 2018 to the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma. Astrup was also a great advocate for the controversial demolition of the Government Headquarter in Oslo, especially the controversial demolition of "Block Y" which only sustained light damage. Block Y, designed by Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø with murals designed by artist Pablo Picasso and materialised by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, must way out to make room for a new Government Headquarter due the terrorist acts carried out on 22 July. Despite national and international protests from countless professionals in architecture, art, history, environment and economics, Astrup has chosen to ignore all professional advice.
