Jo Nesbø was born in Oslo on March 29, 1960, and grew up in Molde on Norway's west coast. As a young man he played football for Molde FK until a torn knee ligament ended that career.
He studied economics and business administration at the Norwegian School of Economics and worked as a stockbroker and freelance journalist. He was also the singer and main songwriter of the Norwegian band Di Derre, whose second album was a major hit in Norway.
His first novel, The Bat (1997), introduced Harry Hole and won both the Riverton Prize and the Glass Key award for best Nordic crime novel. Harry Hole has since appeared in thirteen novels, and Nesbø's books had sold more than 50 million copies worldwide by 2021.
Outside the series he has written standalone thrillers including Headhunters, Macbeth and Wolf Hour (published in Norway as Minnesota), the Blood on Snow novels, and the Doctor Proctor children's books. The English translations of the Harry Hole books are by Don Bartlett, Neil Smith and Seán Kinsella, among others.
