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The 35th prime minister of Norway and the 2nd female Norwegian politician to hold the position, Erna Solberg now leads the Conservative Party and thus serves as the Leader of the Opposition. She previously earned the nickname Iron Erna for her stern decisions as Norway’s Minister of Local Government and Regional Development.
Einar Selvik is a Norwegian musician best known for his association with the popular black metal band Gorgoroth where he performed as the drummer from 2000 to 2004. He is credited with co-founding the Nordic folk project Wardruna. His work with Wardruna for the soundtrack of the popular TV show Vikings has earned Selvik international prominence.
Erlend Øye is a Norwegian musician, composer, singer, songwriter, and producer. He is best known as one half of the indie folk-pop duo Kings of Convenience. He has also been contributing to tracks of other artists and is the leading vocalist of the band The Whitest Boy Alive. Øye is also credited with co-founding an independent label named Bubbles Records.
Best known today for the biographical film Max Manus: Man of War, Max Manus was a Norwegian World War II resistance fighter. While fighting for the Norwegian resistance, he was arrested by the Gestapo but later joined the Lingekompaniet and specialized in ship sabotage. He penned several books about his experiences.
Ivar Giaever is a Norwegian-American physicist and engineer whose discovery of the tunnelling phenomena in solids earned him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973. Over the course of his illustrious career, Ivar Giaever has also received several other awards, such as the Oliver E. Buckley Prize, Golden Plate Award, and Zworykin Award.
Jon Ludvig Hammer is a Norwegian chess player who achieved the title of Grandmaster in 2009. A three-time Norwegian chess champion, Jon Ludvig Hammer played an important role as Magnus Carlsen's main second at the World Chess Championship 2013 in Chennai, India, where the latter became the new world chess champion after defeating the reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand.
Tom Cato Visnes, better known to fans as King ov Hell, soared to fame as the bassist of the Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He was part of the project Abbath and has co-launched bands such as Ov Hell and God Seed. Interestingly, he is also an English teacher.
Kari Aalvik Grimsbø is a Norwegian former handball player. She was part of the national team that won the gold medal at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and the bronze medal at the 2016 Games. At the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Aalvik Grimsbø was named the All-Star Goalkeeper. She is also a five-time European champion and two-time world champion.
Legendary Norwegian violinist Ole Bull had started training in the violin at age 5. He had his own style of playing multiple tones at once. He later developed a colony of his own in Pennsylvania and named it New Norway, also known as the Ole Bull Colony.
One of the forefathers of Norwegian and Danish literature, Ludvig Holberg was a legendary literary figure of the Dano-Norwegian dual monarchy era. Initially a French tutor, he later studied music, before devoting himself to writing. His comedies earned him the nickname of The Molière of the North.
A plumber from the small Norwegian town of Bergen, Kurt Nilsen stunned people with his soulful voice on the Norwegian version of Pop Idol and eventually won the contest. Known for chartbusters such as She’s So High, he was later named World Idol. He has a guitar-shaped home in Hardangervidda.
Norwegian footballer Maren Mjelde is best known for her association with Chelsea. The sister of former footballer Erik Mjelde, Maren began her youth career with Fri IL and later also represented clubs from Norway, Germany, and Sweden. Her achievements with Chelsea include 3 FA WSL and 2 FA Women's League Cup wins.
Olympic bronze medalist Mia Hundvin is one of the most popular Norwegian former handball players. Though born to a music producer, she chose sports instead of music. She is also a budding photographer. Openly bisexual, she has previously dated Camilla Andersen and Anja Andersen but is now married to snowboarder Terje Haakonsen.
Starting his training in music at age 8, Norwegian singer Sondre Lerche ended up penning his first song at age 14. Scouted by producer H.P. Gundersen, he later experimented with psychedelia and Brazilian music. His debut album, Faces Down, was named one of the top 50 albums of 2002 by Rolling Stone.
Best known as a founder member of the Norwegian black metal band Immortal, Olve Eikemo, or Abbath, began his career with the band Old Funeral. Mainly a guitarist, he is also proficient as a bassist, a drummer, and a keyboardist. In 2019, he checked into rehab to get sober permanently.
Born to a cellist father and a pianist mother, Truls Mork was initially trained in the piano and the violin but chose the cello later. At 21, he was the first Scandinavian to win the International Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition. He almost gave up music due to a central nervous system infection but recovered.
Nordahl Grieg was a Norwegian poet, novelist, journalist, and political activist. He was both a popular writer and a controversial public figure. He studied at the Royal Frederick University and became a journalist. He was a staunch anti-Nazi patriot and served in World War II as a war correspondent. He was killed while on a bombing mission to Berlin.
From working in the family shoe shop to becoming an accomplished golf club designer and businessman, life of Karsten Solheim has been truly inspiring. He worked at Convair and General Electric before founding the American sports equipment manufacturing company PING. He also remained a driving force behind creation of the biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers, the Solheim Cup.
Christian Michelsen was a Norwegian statesman and shipping magnate. He is best remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Norway from 1905 to 1907. Christian Michelsen also served as the Minister of Auditing and as the Minister of Justice between 1905 and 1907. He also served as the Minister of Finance on two occasions between 1904 and 1905.
One of the most prominent naturalists of Scandinavia, Norwegian author Amalie Skram had 2 unsuccessful marriages, which was later reflected in her feminist written works. People of Hellemyr and Constance Ring remain 2 of her best-known works. She initially wrote using the pseudonym Amalie Mueller.
Johan Ludwig Mowinckel was a Norwegian statesman, philanthropist, and shipping magnate. He is best remembered for his service as the Prime Minister of Norway on three occasions between 1924 and 1935. A prominent statesman, Mowinckel held multiple positions, including the Minister of Trade and Mayor of Bergen. Mowinckel also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during four separate terms.
Marie Davidsen is a Norwegian handball player. She is currently affiliated with both the club Thüringer HC and the Norwegian national team. She mostly plays in the position of the goalkeeper. Along with her team, she participated in the EHF Championship League in the 2013-14 season. She is also well-educated and has an MSc degree in economics and business administration.
Eirik Norheim, also known as Billy Cockroach and Messiah, was initially part of the punk band Cockroach Clan and later gained fame as a vocalist for the black metal band Mayhem. However, his time with Mayhem lasted less than a year. He now owns a black metal music store in Norway.
Norwegian poet Johan Sebastian Welhaven is remembered for his marked dislike for extreme nationalism in the works of some of his contemporaries. He is best remembered for his criticism of Henrik Wergeland. Primarily a lyric poet, he penned works such as The Dawn of Norway. He also worked as a philosophy lecturer.
Norwegian composer Øistein Johan Eide, better known as Boom Jinx, initially composed for commercials and TV and later switched to dance music and DJ-ing. He has provided music for video game franchises such as FIFA and for TV shows such as CSI: Miami, and is known for chartbusters such as The Dark.
Apart from winning an Olympic bronze medal, Norwegian handball player Stine Skogrand has also been a World Champion and a 2-time European Champion. She is also associated with the Danish club Herning-Ikast Håndbold. She has also been in the news for her relationship with handball player Eivind Tangen.
Nils Jakob Hoff is a Norwegian former competitive rower best known for winning the gold medal in the men's double sculls event along with Kjetil Borch at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju, South Korea. Nils Jakob Hoff also competed at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, representing Norway.
Ola Raknes was a Norwegian philologist, psychologist, and non-fiction writer. Apart from achieving international recognition as a psychoanalyst, Raknes was also renowned for his contributions to enriching the Nynorsk language. Ola Raknes is also remembered for his association with Wilhelm Reich as one of Reich's closest students and fierce defenders.
Ragnhild Hatton was a Norwegian historian who spent most of her life in London, England. Hatton is also remembered for her academic career. She was associated with the London School of Economics where she served as professor of International History. In 1981, Ragnhild Hatton was appointed Professor Emeritus and then went on to serve as Chairman of the History Department.
