Paul Øistein Engstad (13 October 1926 – 13 May 2012) was a Norwegian writer and politician for the Labour Party. He was born in Sauda. He was a journalist in the Labour-aligned newspaper Arbeiderbladet, and held several positions in the Labour Party as organizational secretary and information director in the parliamentary group. From 1976 to 1980 he was a part of Nordli's Cabinet as State Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister. He was known as one of the closest allies of party secretary Haakon Lie, and was accused of being instrumental in the political surveillance of socialists and communists in Norway during the Cold War, however, he strenuously denied this and nothing was proven.