Jo Nesbø

Nesbø was born in 1960 and grew up in Molde. He graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics with a degree in Economics and Business Administration.

Nesbø worked as a freelance journalist and a stockbroker before he began his writing career.

The Harry Hole series

The series follows Harry Hole, a tough detective working for Crime Squad and later with the National Criminal Investigation Service (Kripos), whose investigations may take him from Oslo to Australia and the Congo Republic. Hole takes on seemingly unconnected cases, sometimes found to involve serial killers, bank robbers, gangsters or the establishment, but also spends a significant amount of time battling alcoholism and his own demons. The Harry Hole novels are multi-layered, violent and often feature women in peril, as typified by The Snowman.

The Doctor Proctor series

Follows the story of Doctor Proctor, a crazy professor waiting for his big break, his next-door neighbor Lisa and her peculiar friend Nilly. The ruthless twins Truls and Trym Thrane sometimes lurk in the background. This series is reminiscent of Roald Dahl's books. It deals with "the importance of being who you are and the ability of human creativity and imagination to give you the courage to do so."

The Olav Johansen series

It was announced in October 2013 that, writing under the pen-name of Tom Johansen, Nesbø has written at least two novels provisionally entitled Blood on Snow and More Blood on the Water, scheduled to be published in autumn 2014 and spring 2015. The books Blood on Snow and its sequel Midnight Sun: Blood on Snow 2 were published in 2015, but under Jo Nesbø's name. It was further announced that Warner Brothers has bought the rights to Blood on Snow and plan to make a screen adaptation, to be produced by and possibly starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

This series follows Olav Johansen, a fixer for Oslo crime boss Daniel Hoffman. In Blood on Snow, Olav has just found the woman of his dreams. The only problem is that she's his boss' wife and that his boss has hired him to kill her.

Future projects

A film adaptation of The Snowman is in post-production with Tomas Alfredson directing (replacing Martin Scorsese who will be executive producer), and starring Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The film is scheduled to premiere on 11 October 2017.

In 2016 it was announced that there are also plans to adapt The Son as a film, to be directed by Denis Villeneuve, with Jake Gyllenhaal as producer and Channing Tatum in the lead role.

A further announcement in September 2016, revealed that, after a gap of four years, in May 2017 Harvill Secker would publish a new Jo Nesbø novel entitled The Thirst, again featuring maverick policeman Harry Hole. On the return of Harry Hole in The Thirst, Nesbø says: ‘I was always coming back to Harry; he is my soul mate. But it is a dark soul, so it is – as always – both a thrill and a chilling, emotionally exhausting experience. But Harry and the story make it worth the sleepless nights.’

In 2014 it was announced that Nesbø would contribute a re-telling of the story of Macbeth as part of the Hogarth Shakespeare project, described as a 'crime noir' version of the tragedy. This is now scheduled to be published in April 2018.

On April 4, 2017, it was announced that Tobey Maguire will make his directorial debut with an adaptation of Blood On Snow. Also, on April 5, 2017, it was announced that Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur is working on a new adaptation of I Am Victor, a short story by Nesbø previously planned as an NBC television series but not completed.

Nesbø played top-flight football for Molde FK until he tore the cruciate ligaments in his knee, and had to concentrate on other aspects of his life. Nesbø is a dedicated rock climber and has climbed sport routes up to French grade 7c. In addition to his career as author, Nesbø is also the main vocalist and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. He lives close to his former wife and their daughter in Oslo.

• The Riverton Prize 1997 for Best Norwegian Crime Novel of the Year (The Bat)
• The Glass Key Award 1998 for Best Nordic Crime Novel of the Year (The Bat)
• The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize for Best Novel of the Year 2000 (The Redbreast)
• The Mads Wiel Nygaards Bursary 2002 (Nemesis)
• Best Norwegian Crime Novel Ever Written awarded by the Norwegian book clubs in 2004 (The Redbreast)
• The Finnish Academy of Crime Writers' Special Commendation 2007 for Excellence in Foreign Crime Writing (The Devil's Star)
• Shortlisted for Duncan Lawrie International Dagger 2007 (The Redbreast)
• The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize or Best Novel of the Year 2007 (The Snowman)
• Shortlisted for Ark's Children's Book Award for Best Children's Book 2007 (Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder)
• The Norwegian Book Club Prize 2008 for Best Novel of the Year (The Snowman)
• Nominated for the Norwegian Bookseller's Prize 2008 (Headhunters and Doctor Proctor's Time Bathtub)
• Nominated for the Edgar Award 2010 (Nemesis)
• Awarded the Norwegian Peer Gynt Prize 2013