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Norway

Kingdom of Norway Europe Oslo 5,147,792 inhabitants 323,802 sq km 15.90 inhabitants/sq km Norwegian kroner (NOK) population evolution

Famous people from Norway

Here is a list of famous people from Norway. Curious if anybody from Norway made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.

Edvard Grieg

Art song Artist

Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions put the music of Norway in the international spectrum, as well as helping develop a national identity, much like Jean Sibelius and Antonín Dvořák did in Finland and Bohemia respectively.

Henrik Ibsen

Playwright

Henrik Johan Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of realism" and is one of the founders of Modernism in theatre. His major works include Brand, Peer Gynt, An Enemy of the People, Emperor and Galilean, A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler, Ghosts, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, and The Master Builder. He is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and A Doll's House became the world's most performed play by the early 20th century. Several of his plays were considered scandalous to many of his era, when European theatre was required to model strict morals of family life and propriety. Ibsen's work examined the realities that lay behind many façades, revealing much that was disquieting to many contemporaries. It utilized a critical eye and free inquiry into the conditions of life and issues of morality. The poetic and cinematic play Peer Gynt, however, has strong surreal elements. Ibsen is often ranked as one of the truly great playwrights in the European tradition. Richard Hornby describes him as "a profound poetic dramatist—the best since Shakespeare". He is widely regarded as the most important playwright since Shakespeare. He influenced other playwrights and novelists such as George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Miller, James Joyce, Eugene O'Neill and Miroslav Krleža.

Varg Vikernes

Black metal Artist

Varg Vikernes is a Norwegian musician and writer. In 1991, he founded the one-man music project Burzum and became part of the early Norwegian black metal scene. In 1992, he took part in the arson of at least three Christian churches in Norway, along with other members of the scene. By early 1993, Vikernes had recorded four albums as Burzum and another with fellow black metal band Mayhem. When Mayhem guitarist Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth was stabbed to death in August that year, Vikernes was arrested and charged with the murder. In May 1994, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder of Euronymous and the arson of churches. During his time in prison he became affiliated with the Heathen Front and had several writings on Germanic paganism published. He also recorded and released two dark ambient albums as Burzum. Having served almost 15 years of his sentence, Vikernes was released on parole in early 2009. He settled in France with his wife and children, where he continued releasing music and writing. As of July 2013, he was registered as Louis Cachet in the Norwegian resident registration database.

Anders Behring Breivik

Man

Anders Behring Breivik is the perpetrator of the 2011 Norway attacks. In a sequential bombing and mass shooting on 22 July 2011, he bombed government buildings in Oslo, resulting in eight deaths, then carried out a mass shooting at a camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party on the island of Utøya, where he killed 69 people, mostly teenagers. He was convicted of mass murder, causing a fatal explosion, and terrorism in August 2012. Breivik described his far-right militant ideology in a compendium of texts entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence, which he distributed electronically on the day of the attacks. In it he lays out his worldview, which includes Islamophobia, support of "far-right Zionism" and opposition to feminism. It regards Islam and Cultural Marxism as "the enemy", and argues for the violent annihilation of "Eurabia" and multiculturalism, and the deportation of all Muslims from Europe based on the model of the Beneš decrees. Breivik wrote that his main motive for the atrocities was to market his manifesto. Two teams of court-appointed psychiatrists examined Breivik prior to his trial; in the first report Breivik was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and a second evaluation was commissioned following widespread criticism of the first report. The second psychiatric evaluation was published one week before the trial, concluding that Breivik was not psychotic during the attacks nor during the evaluation; he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. His trial began on 16 April 2012, and closing arguments were held on 22 June.

Edvard Munch

Painting Artist

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intensely evocative treatment of psychological themes built upon some of the main tenets of late 19th-century Symbolism and greatly influenced German Expressionism in the early 20th century. One of his most well-known works is The Scream of 1893.

Thor Heyerdahl

Academic

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a background in biology, zoology, botany, and geography. He became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000 km across the Pacific Ocean in a self-built raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands. The expedition was designed to demonstrate that ancient people could have made long sea voyages, creating contacts between apparently separate cultures. This was linked to a diffusionist model of cultural development. Heyerdahl subsequently made other voyages designed to demonstrate the possibility of contact between widely separated ancient peoples. He was appointed a government scholar in 1984. In May 2011, the Thor Heyerdahl Archives were added to UNESCO's "Memory of the World" Register. At the time, this list included 238 collections from all over the world. The Heyerdahl Archives span the years 1937 to 2002 and include his photographic collection, diaries, private letters, expedition plans, articles, newspaper clippings, original book, and article manuscripts. The Heyerdahl Archives are administered by the Kon-Tiki Museum and the National Library of Norway in Oslo.

Jo Nesbø

Novelist

Jo Nesbø is a Glass Key award winning Norwegian author and musician. As of September 2008 more than 1.5 million copies of his novels have been sold in Norway, and his work has been translated into over 40 languages, selling over 9 million copies. Nesbø is primarily known for his crime novels about Inspector Harry Hole, but he is also the main vocalist and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. In 2007 Nesbø also released his first children's book, Doktor Proktors Prompepulver. The 2011 film Headhunters is based on Nesbø's novel Hodejegerne.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Soccer

Ole Gunnar Solskjær is a Norwegian former footballer, who spent most of his career playing for Manchester United, mainly as a striker, but also as a winger. He is now a football manager, currently in charge of Molde. Before his arrival in England, Solskjær played for the Norwegian clubs Clausenengen and Molde. He joined Manchester United in 1996, for a transfer fee of £1.5 million. Nicknamed "the Baby-faced Assassin", he played 366 times for United, and scored 126 goals during a successful period for the club. He was regarded as a "super sub" for his trait of coming off the substitute bench to score late goals. Solskjær's defining moment in football came in injury time of the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, where he scored the winning last-minute goal against Bayern Munich, completing a remarkable comeback and winning The Treble for United. In 2007, Solskjær announced his retirement from football, after failing to recover from a serious knee injury. However, he remained at Manchester United in a coaching role, as well as in an ambassadorial capacity. In 2008, Solskjær became the club's reserve team manager. He returned to his native country in 2011 to manage his former club, Molde, whom he led to their first ever league title in 2011 and a second league trophy in 2012.

Thor Hushovd

Professional Road Racing Cyclist

Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding for BMC Racing Team. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian national road race champion, and was the winner of the 2010 World Road Race Championships. He was the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road race in cycling world road championship. He is also the Scandinavian with the most stage wins in Grand Tours. He is widely considered the greatest Norwegian cyclist of all time.

Knut Hamsun

Novelist

Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to the subject, perspective and environment. He published more than 20 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, and some essays. The young Hamsun objected to realism and naturalism. He argued that the main object of modern literature should be the intricacies of the human mind, that writers should describe the "whisper of blood, and the pleading of bone marrow". Hamsun is considered the "leader of the Neo-Romantic revolt at the turn of the [20th] century", with works such as Hunger, Mysteries, Pan, and Victoria. His later works—in particular his "Nordland novels"—were influenced by the Norwegian new realism, portraying everyday life in rural Norway and often employing local dialect, irony, and humour. Hamsun is considered to be "one of the most influential and innovative literary stylists of the past hundred years". He pioneered psychological literature with techniques of stream of consciousness and interior monologue, and influenced authors such as Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Maxim Gorky, Stefan Zweig, Henry Miller, Hermann Hesse, and Ernest Hemingway. Isaac Bashevis Singer called Hamsun "the father of the modern school of literature in his every aspect—his subjectiveness, his fragmentariness, his use of flashbacks, his lyricism. The whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from Hamsun". Ernest Hemingway stated that "Hamsun taught me to write".

Fridtjof Nansen

Scientist

Fridtjof Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth a champion skier and ice skater, he led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, and won international fame after reaching a record northern latitude of 86°14′ during his North Pole expedition of 1893–96. Although he retired from exploration after his return to Norway, his techniques of polar travel and his innovations in equipment and clothing influenced a generation of subsequent Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. Nansen studied zoology at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania, and later worked as a curator at the Bergen Museum where his research on the central nervous system of lower marine creatures earned him a doctorate and helped establish modern theories of neurology. After 1896 his main scientific interest switched to oceanography; in the course of his research he made many scientific cruises, mainly in the North Atlantic, and contributed to the development of modern oceanographic equipment. As one of his country's leading citizens, in 1905 Nansen spoke out for the ending of Norway's union with Sweden, and was instrumental in persuading Prince Charles of Denmark to accept the throne of the newly independent Norway. Between 1906 and 1908 he served as the Norwegian representative in London, where he helped negotiate the Integrity Treaty that guaranteed Norway's independent status.

Edvald Boasson Hagen

Professional Road Racing Cyclist

Edvald Boasson Hagen is a Norwegian professional road racing cyclist riding for the UCI ProTour team Team Sky. He is the reigning Norwegian Time Trial Champion and also considered as one of the biggest rising talents in the sport, being ranked as no. 3 in the world by UCI as of 31 August 2009, when he was 22 years old.

Bruce McLaren

Racing driver

Bruce Leslie McLaren was a New Zealander race-car designer, driver, engineer and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, with McLaren cars and drivers winning a total of 20 world championships. McLaren cars totally dominated CanAm sports car racing with 56 wins, a considerable number of them with him behind the wheel, between 1967 and 1972, and have won three Indianapolis 500 races, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 12 Hours of Sebring.

Harald V of Norway

Monarch

Harald V is the King of Norway, Prince of Denmark, and Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991. The son of the then-Crown Prince Olav and of Princess Märtha of Sweden, Harald was born at the Crown Prince Residence at Skaugum, Akershus, Norway. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, originally from Northern Germany, Harald became the first Norwegian-born prince since Olav IV, who was born in 1370. Harald V is the formal head of the Church of Norway and the Norwegian Armed Forces. He has two children, Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Märtha Louise. He is closely related to other European monarchs. He is the first cousin once removed of King Philippe of Belgium; the first cousin once removed of Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg; the second cousin of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and Margrethe II of Denmark; and the second cousin once removed of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.

Olaf II of Norway

Deceased Person

Olaf II Haraldsson, later known as St. Olaf, was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. Olaf's local canonisation was in 1164 confirmed by Pope Alexander III, making him a universally recognised saint of the Catholic Church. The exact position of Saint Olaf's grave in Nidaros has been unknown since 1568, due to the Lutheran iconoclasm in 1536–37. Saint Olaf is symbolised by the axe in Norway's coat of arms, and the Olsok is still his day of celebration. The Order of St. Olav is named after him.

Sonja Henie

Professional Figure Skater

Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion. Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. At the height of her acting career she was one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood.

Morten Harket

Alternative rock Artist

Morten Harket is a Norwegian musician, best known as the lead singer of the synthpop/rock band A-ha, which released nine studio albums and topped the charts in several countries after their breakthrough hit "Take on Me" in 1985. A-ha disbanded in 2010. Harket has also released five solo albums. Before joining A-ha in 1982, Harket had appeared on the Oslo club scene as the singer for blues outfit Soldier Blue.

John Arne Riise

Soccer

John Arne Semundseth Riise is a Norwegian footballer who currently plays as a left wing-back for Fulham. With 110 caps, he is the most-capped player for the Norwegian national team, and also played at Euro 2000 and scored 17 goals before his retirement from international duty in 2013. Riise spent seven years playing for Premier League side Liverpool, in which he won honours including the 2005 Champions League Final, before moving to Roma in 2008. He is the older brother of Bjørn Helge Riise, who is also a Norwegian international.

Petter Solberg

Award Winner

Petter Solberg, from Spydeberg in Østfold, is a Norwegian professional rally and rallycross driver. He debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford factory team in 1999. The following year, Solberg started his successful partnership with the Subaru World Rally Team. With the Subaru works team, Solberg finished runner-up to Marcus Grönholm in 2002 and then became the first Norwegian to win the drivers' world title in 2003. In the following two seasons, he finished runner-up to Sébastien Loeb. Following Subaru's withdrawal from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season, Solberg secured private backing to start the Petter Solberg World Rally Team and competed with a Citroën Xsara WRC and a Citroën C4 WRC. He switched to rallycross after the 2012 season.

Vidkun Quisling

Politician

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'état. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying forces. His government, known as the Quisling regime, was dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling, the party he founded in 1933. The collaborationist government participated – wittingly or unwittingly – in Germany's Final Solution. Quisling was put on trial during the legal purge in Norway after World War II and found guilty of charges including embezzlement, murder and high treason. He was executed by firing squad at Akershus Fortress, Oslo, on 24 October 1945. During World War II, the word quisling became a synonym for traitor. The son of a Church of Norway pastor, Quisling blended Christian fundamentals, scientific developments and philosophy into a new theory he called Universism. Before going into politics, he proved himself in the military, joining the General Staff in 1911 and specialising in Russian affairs. He was posted to Russia in 1918, and worked with Fridtjof Nansen during the Russian famine of 1921 in Ukraine, returning to Russia to work with Frederik Prytz in Moscow. When Prytz left in 1927, Quisling stayed on as the Norwegian diplomat responsible for managing British diplomatic affairs. For these services he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King George V, though the honour was later rescinded. He returned to Norway in 1929, and served as Minister of Defence during the governments of Peder Kolstad and Jens Hundseid. Although Quisling achieved some popularity after his attacks on the political left, his party failed to win any seats in the Storting and was little more than peripheral at the time of his 1940 coup.

John Carew

Soccer

John Alieu Carew, is a Norwegian professional footballer. He is capped 91 times, scoring 24 goals for the Norwegian national team. His father is Gambian and his mother is Norwegian; he was born and raised in Norway.

Jens Stoltenberg

Politician

Jens Stoltenberg is a Norwegian politician who was Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2013. He has been leader of the Norwegian Labour Party since 2002. First elected to Parliament in 1993 for the Oslo constituency, Stoltenberg served as State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment from 1990 to 1991 and as Minister of Industry from 1993 to 1996 in the Third Brundtland Cabinet, respectively. Following the resignation of Brundtland in 1996, Thorbjørn Jagland was elected leader of the Labour Party and became Prime Minister, while Stoltenberg was appointed Minister of Finance, an office he held until 17 October 1997 when Jagland and the entire government resigned. While in parliamentary opposition, Stoltenberg served in the standing committees on energy affairs. Following a motion of confidence against the First Bondevik Cabinet, Stoltenberg was appointed Prime Minister on 3 March 2000, despite being deputy leader of the party, and not the party leader. After poor results in the 2001 parliamentary election, and the subsequent fall of his government on 19 October of that same year, Stoltenberg successfully challenged Thorbjørn Jagland for the party leadership in 2002, and led the party to victory in the 2005 election by forming a Red-Green coalition government with the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party, taking office on 17 October 2005. He was re-elected in 2009 for a second term as Prime Minister, but lost the election for a third term in 2013. He submitted his resignation on 14 October 2013 and left office two days later.

Suzann Pettersen

Golfer

Suzann Pettersen is a Norwegian professional golfer. She plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour, and is also a member of the Ladies European Tour. Her career best world ranking is second and she has held that position several times, most recently from August 2011 until February 2012.

Svante Arrhenius

Physicist

Svante August Arrhenius was a Swedish scientist, originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, and one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903 and in 1905 became Director of the Nobel Institute where he remained until his death. The Arrhenius equation, lunar crater Arrhenius and the Arrhenius Labs at Stockholm University are named after him.

Harald Hardrada

Noble person

Harald Sigurdsson, given the epithet Hardrada in the sagas, was King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. In addition, he unsuccessfully claimed the Danish throne until 1064 and the English throne in 1066. Prior to becoming king, Harald had spent around fifteen years in exile as a mercenary and military commander in Kievan Rus' and in the Byzantine Empire. When he was fifteen years old, in 1030, Harald fought in the Battle of Stiklestad together with his half-brother Olaf Haraldsson. Olaf sought to reclaim the Norwegian throne, which he had lost to the Danish king Cnut the Great two years prior. In the battle, Olaf and Harald were defeated by forces loyal to Cnut, and Harald was forced in exile to Kievan Rus'. He thereafter spent some time in the army of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise, eventually obtaining rank as a captain, until he moved on to Constantinople with his companions around 1034. In Constantinople, he soon rose to become the commander of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, and saw action on the Mediterranean Sea, in Asia Minor, Sicily, possibly in the Holy Land, Bulgaria and in Constantinople itself, where he became involved in the imperial dynastic disputes. Harald amassed considerable wealth during his time in the Byzantine Empire, which he shipped to Yaroslav in Kievan Rus' for safekeeping. He finally left the Byzantines in 1042, and arrived back in Kievan Rus' in order to prepare his campaign of reclaiming the Norwegian throne. Possibly to Harald's knowledge, in his absence the Norwegian throne had been restored from the Danes to Olaf's illegitimate son Magnus the Good.

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway

Noble person

Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway, is the wife of Crown Prince Haakon, heir apparent to the throne of Norway. A Norwegian commoner and a single mother with a rebellious past, she was a controversial figure at the time of her engagement to Haakon in 2000. She became crown princess of Norway upon her marriage in 2001. As such, she has championed humanitarian projects and arts, as well as taking part in official visits at home and abroad.

Kurt Nilsen

Pop Artist

Kurt Erik Kleppe Nilsen is a Norwegian pop/country singer. He won the first season of the Norwegian version of the reality television show Pop Idol, which aired on TV 2 in May 2003. He then won a one-off international version of Pop Idol, called World Idol on January 1, 2004, featuring winners of the various national Idol shows.

Erik the Red

Deceased Person

Erik Thorvaldsson, known as Erik the Red, is remembered in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. The Icelandic tradition indicates that he was born in the Jæren district of Rogaland, Norway, as the son of Þorvald Ásvaldsson, he therefore also appears, patronymically, as Erik Thorvaldsson. The appellation "the Red" most likely refers to his hair color and the color of his beard. Leif Ericson, the famous Icelandic explorer, was Erik's son.

Petter Northug

Cross-country skier

Petter Northug Jr. is a Norwegian cross country skier and double Olympic champion. He has 11 World Championship and Winter Olympic gold medals with 16 medals overall, and 11 individual FIS Cross-Country World Cup wins with 23 podium places. By winning his ninth gold medal in the Nordic World Ski Championships in 4 x 10 km relay in Val di Fiemme 2013 he leveled the achievement of Bjørn Dæhlie who had been the most successful World Champion male skier up to this point.

Ane Brun

Singer-songwriter

Ane Brun is a Norwegian international songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. Since 2003 she has recorded eight albums, six of which are studio albums and one live DVD. She has lived in Stockholm, Sweden since 2001, where she writes, records and runs her own label when not on tour.

Tone Damli Aaberge

Pop Artist

Tone Damli Aaberge is a Norwegian singer. She became famous for being a contestant in the Norwegian version of the Idol series. She was the runner-up in the Norwegian version of Idol in 2005, following Jorun Stiansen in the final. She has released four albums, Bliss, Sweet Fever, I Know, and Cocool. Bliss and I Know have been certified gold in Norway. She contended in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest 2009 finals, with the song Butterflies, and ended up in the runner-up position yet again, this time following Alexander Rybak. She also finished third in the Norwegian version of Dancing with the Stars in 2006. On 18 August 2012, it was announced on the official Idol website that Tone Damli will be the first of an all-new four-member jury of former Idol contestants to celebrate 10 years since the debut of Idol in Norway, along with the very first winner Kurt Nilsen.

Marion Raven

Alternative rock Artist

Marion Elise Ravn, known as Marion Raven, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, and former child actress. She was one-half of the now defunct pop duo M2M, along with Marit Larsen. Raven was later marketed as a pop rock artist by Atlantic Records with the release of her solo debut album, Here I Am. In 2006, Raven was signed to the indie record label, Eleven Seven, and released the Heads Will Roll EP, as well as her European/U.S debut and second album overall, Set Me Free, in 2007. In August 2009 she recorded an album called Nevermore that, after spawning 2 singles, was scrapped due to label and licensing issues. In 2011, Raven began production for a new third album titled Songs from a Blackbird, which was finally released in her hometown of Norway on April 8, 2013. Other than that, Raven has also wrote tracks for other artists including Lindsay Lohan and Pixie Lott. She has also lent her voice for the Norwegian version of Tangled. In 2013 on her 29th birthday, Raven married long time boyfriend, professional snowboarder Andreas Wiig.

Vicky Vette

Pornographic actor

Vicky Vette is a pornographic actress, webcam model and webmaster. She has been named the most Followed Norwegian on Twitter by the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang. She also shot a mainstream movie for Indonesia called Pacar Hantu Perawan. Vette moved from Norway to Canada as a child. According to Vette, she was an accountant and a housing contractor with her husband prior to her career in adult. Vette got her start after she won an amateur photo contest in Hustler and began making sex videos. Vette has a line of adult toys called the 'Vicky Quickie' released worldwide by Doc Johnson. She runs a network of adult websites called the VNA Network with stars such as Nikki Benz, Puma Swede, Julia Ann & others.

Margaret Berger

Pop Artist

Margaret Berger is a Norwegian electropop singer-songwriter. She made her debut on Sony BMG after she placed second on the second season of Norwegian Idol in 2004. She released the studio albums Chameleon and Pretty Scary Silver Fairy. Her third album is due in 2013. Berger represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden, finishing in fourth place with the song "I Feed You My Love".

Euronymous

Black metal Artist

Øystein Aarseth, who went by the pseudonym Euronymous, was a Norwegian guitarist and co-founder of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. He was also founder and owner of the extreme metal record label Deathlike Silence Productions and record shop Helvete. Euronymous was the founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene until his murder by fellow musician Varg Vikernes in August 1993.

Tore André Flo

Soccer

Tore André Flo is a retired Norwegian football striker and youth coach. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country in 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000, and scored Norway's first goal when Norway won 2-1 against Brazil and advanced to the second round of the 1998 World Cup. During his professional career, he played for Sogndal, Tromsø and Brann in Tippeligaen, before he moved abroad and played for Chelsea. After a successful spell with the English club, he was sold to Rangers for £12 million and became the most expensive Norwegian player. Flo later has spell at Sunderland, Siena, Vålerenga and Leeds United before he announced his retirement in March 2008. He later made two comebacks; for Milton Keynes Dons in November 2008 and the Norwegian club Sogndal in March 2011. In August 2012 he announced his retirement for the third time. He subsequently rejoined Chelsea and is currently a member of their coaching staff. Flo hails from the village of Flo in the municipality of Stryn in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. He comes from a family of footballers, and his brother Jostein Flo and his cousin Håvard Flo have also been capped for Norway.

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway

Noble person

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, with the full name Haakon Magnus, is the heir apparent to the throne of Norway and the son of the current King, Harald V. He is a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, which is a branch of the House of Oldenburg. In accordance with Norway's agnatic primogeniture succession, he became crown prince when his father ascended to the throne in 1991. He has an older sister, Princess Märtha Louise. Should he ascend as expected, he will be known as Haakon VIII.

Emil Hegle Svendsen

Biathlete

Emil Hegle Svendsen is a Norwegian biathlete. He won two gold medals and one silver at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He has won five individual gold medals and five relay gold medals at World Championships. He skis with Strindheim IL, based in Trondheim.

Knute Rockne

American Football Head Coach

Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach, both at the University of Notre Dame. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history. His biography at the College Football Hall of Fame calls him "without question, American football's most-renowned coach." A Norwegian American, he was educated as a chemist at the University of Notre Dame. He popularized the forward pass and made Notre Dame a major factor in collegiate football.

Ihsahn

Progressive metal Artist

Ihsahn is a Norwegian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. He is best known for his work with Norwegian black metal band Emperor. He has appeared in Thou Shalt Suffer, up until March 4, 2006, played in Peccatum with his wife Ihriel, and now devotes himself to his solo albums.

Johann Olav Koss

Speed Skater

Johann Olav Koss is a former speed skater from Norway, considered to be one of the best in history, and current assistant coach of Norway's speed skating team.

Gro Harlem Brundtland

Politician

Gro Harlem Brundtland is a former Prime Minister of Norway and a current Special Envoy with the United Nations. Brundtland, MD has served as a physician, a Social Democratic politician and a diplomat, and is now an international leader in sustainable development and public health. She served three terms as Norway's Prime Minister: in 1981, in 1986–89, and in 1990–96. She served as the Director General of the UN World Health Organization and is now a Special Envoy on Climate Change for the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. In 2008 she also became the recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture.

Ole Einar Bjørndalen

Biathlete

Ole Einar Bjørndalen is a Norwegian professional biathlete. He is often regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. In 1992, he won his first career medal at the junior world championships. A year later In 1993, after winning a record three junior world championship titles, Bjørndalen made his Biathlon World Cup debut. His breakthrough came in 1994 when he featured on his first World Cup podium in a Sprint race held in Bad Gastein, Austria. Bjørndalen's first participation at the Olympic Games was during the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics, which were held in his home country of Norway. He obtained his first major victory on 11 January 1996 in an individual competition held in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy.

Morten Gamst Pedersen

Soccer Midfielder

Morten Gamst Pedersen is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Karabükspor in the Turkish Süper Lig. He played for English side Blackburn Rovers between 2004 and 2013. Since he made his debut in 2004, Pedersen has been capped 74 times, and scored 16 goals, for Norway. He was an international regular until August 2012, when he was left out of the national team squad.

Lene Marlin

Acoustic Artist

Lene Marlin is a Norwegian singer and musician.

Tor Erik Hermansen

Composer

Tor Erik Hermansen is a composer.

Philip Øgaard

Cinematographer

Philip Øogar is a cinematographer.

Svein Krøvel

Cinematographer

Svein Krøvel was a Norwegian cinematographer, known for his collaborations with director Knut Erik Jensen and Petter Næss. Krøvel worked on both documentaries and feature films. He started his feature film career in 1980. Since then he has been responsible for the photography of around 20 features, and collaborated with several of Norway’s leading directors. Among the films Krøvel photographed and that have reached an international audience are Burnt by Frost, Passing Darkness and Cool and Crazy, all of which were directed by Knut Erik Jensen. The latter film became a huge success in Norway. Krøvel also photographed Torun Lian's Only Clouds Move the Stars, which was awarded the Ingmar Bergman prize in 1999. He was also responsible for the photography in Norway's 2002 Oscar entry, Elling, directed by Petter Næss.

Turid Øversveen

Presenter

Turid Øversveen is a film producer and presenter.

Shagrath

Black metal Artist

Shagrath is a Norwegian musician best known as the vocalist of Dimmu Borgir.

Marit Larsen

Acoustic Artist

Marit Elisabeth Larsen is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. She began playing violins at age of 5, and played it until the age of 8. She gained international fame during her teenage years as a member of the pop duo M2M with childhood friend Marion Raven. More recently she has pursued her own music career releasing her solo debut album, Under the Surface, in 2006. Her second album, The Chase, was released in Norway in October 2008. The third album, titled Spark was released in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark on 18 November 2011 and Germany, Austria, Switzerland on 16 December 2011.

Mari Boine

Folk rock Artist

Mari Boine, previously known as Mari Boine Persen, née Mari Boine Olsen is a Norwegian Sami musician known for having added jazz and rock to the yoiks of her native people. Gula Gula was her breakthrough release, and she continued to record popular albums throughout the 1990s. In 2008, she was appointed Professor of musicology at Nesna University College.

Aksel Lund Svindal

Alpine skier

Aksel Lund Svindal is a World Cup alpine ski racer from Kjeller, Norway. Born in Lørenskog, he is a two-time overall World Cup champion, an Olympic gold medalist in Super G at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and a five-time World Champion in downhill, giant slalom, and super combined. With his victory in the downhill in 2013, Svindal became the first male alpine racer to win titles in four consecutive world championships.

Leif Ove Andsnes

Classical Artist

Leif Ove Andsnes is a Norwegian pianist and champion of the works of Edvard Grieg.

Alexander Kristoff

Professional Road Racing Cyclist

Alexander Kristoff is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer with the UCI ProTeam Team Katusha. At nine, he moved from Oslo to Stavanger. His stepfather got him interested in cycling rather than football. He started riding for Stavanger SK. At 16 he won the Norwegian youth championship, and finished fourth in the Youth Olympics. He turned professional in 2006 for Glud & Marstrand Horsens. In 2007, he became Norwegian road champion at 19, beating Thor Hushovd in a sprint of four riders. He won a bronze medal in the road race at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Petter Hegre

Photographer

Petter Hegre is a Norwegian photographer, known for his nude photography of women.

Biosphere

Ambient Artist

Biosphere is the main recording name of Geir Jenssen, a Norwegian musician who has released a notable catalogue of ambient electronic music. He is well known for his "ambient techno" and "arctic ambient" styles, his use of music loops, and peculiar samples from sci-fi sources. His track "Novelty Waves" was used for the 1995 campaign of Levi's. His 1997 album Substrata was voted by the users of the Hyperreal website in 2001 as the best all time classic ambient album.

Mohammed Abdellaoue

Soccer

Mohammed "Moa" Abdellaoue is a Norwegian footballer of Moroccan descent who currently plays as a forward for VfB Stuttgart and the Norwegian national team. His younger brother is F.C. Copenhagen striker Mostafa Abdellaoue, known as "Mos".

Marit Bjørgen

Cross-country skier

Marit Bjørgen is a Norwegian cross-country skier and triple olympic champion from Midtre Gauldal, Norway. Bjørgen is the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country World Cup history, with twenty-four victories. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with fifty-eight individual victories. One of her most notable achievements was becoming the most successful athlete at the 2010 Winter Olympics by winning five medals, including three gold medals. She is a member of the Rognes IL and is coached by Svein Tore Samdal.

Jan Axel Blomberg

Black metal Artist

Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg is a Norwegian heavy metal drummer. He is best known as the drummer of Mayhem, which he joined in 1988, effectively beginning his career. In 1987 Blomberg formed the avant-garde black metal band Arcturus with Steinar Sverd Johnsen, which broke up in April 2007 and reunited in 2011. He named himself for the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. Praised as a talented musician, Blomberg is a three-time winner of the Spellemannprisen award.

Lasse Kjus

Professional Alpine Skier

Lasse Kjus is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from Norway. He won the overall World Cup title twice, an Olympic gold medal, and several World Championships. His combined career total of 16 Olympic and World Championship medals ranks second all-time behind fellow Norwegian Kjetil André Aamodt; third is Austrian Benjamin Raich with 14 medals.

Mikkel Diskerud

Soccer Midfielder

Mikkel "Mix" Morgenstar Pålssønn Diskerud is an Norwegian-American soccer player currently playing for Rosenborg BK. Internationally, he played for both Norwegian and American national youth teams, but he represents the United States at senior level.

Wenche Myhre

Musical Artist

Wenche Synnøve Myhre, in some countries known as Wencke Myhre, is a Norwegian singer and actress who has had a great number of hit songs since the 1960s in the Norwegian, Danish, German as well as the Swedish markets and languages. She got her first recording contract with composer and producer Arne Bendiksen at the age of 13, when she won a talent contest in Oslo in 1960.

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway

Noble person

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway is the only daughter of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. She is fourth in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne, after her brother Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, and his two children.

Belle Gunness

Film subject

Belle Sorenson Gunness was a Norwegian-American serial killer. Standing six feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds, she was a physically strong woman. She killed most of her suitors and boyfriends, and her two daughters, Myrtle and Lucy. She may also have killed both of her husbands and all of her children, on different occasions. Her apparent motives involved collecting life insurance, cash and other valuables, and eliminating witnesses. Reports estimate that she killed between 25 and 40 people over several decades.

Therese Johaug

Cross-country skier

Therese Johaug is a Norwegian cross-country skier. Johaug has competed for the clubs Tynset IF and IL Nansen.

I.C.S. Vortex

Black metal Artist

Simen Hestnæs, also known as I.C.S. Vortex, or just simply Vortex, is a Norwegian musician, best known as the current vocalist of the similar named band ICS Vortex, the avant-garde metal band Arcturus, the current vocalist and bass guitarist to the progressive black metal band Borknagar, vocalist in the doom metal band Lamented Souls and the former bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.

Nils Petter Molvær

Jazz Artist

Nils Petter Molvær also known as NPM is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and producer. Molvær is considered a pioneer of "future jazz", a genre that fusing jazz and electronic music, showcased on his most commercially successful album, Khmer, on the ECM label in October 1997 in Europe and early 1998 in North America.

Ivar Aasen

Playwright

Ivar Andreas Aasen was a Norwegian philologist, lexicographer, playwright and poet. He is most known for having created one of Norway's official languages, New Norwegian.

Johan Galtung

Professor

Johan Galtung is a Norwegian sociologist, mathematician and the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies. He founded the Peace Research Institute Oslo in 1959, serving as its director until 1970, and established the Journal of Peace Research in 1964. In 1969 he was appointed to the world's first chair in peace and conflict studies, at the University of Oslo. He resigned his professorship in 1977 and has since held professorships at several other universities; since 1993 he has been Distinguished Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Hawaii. He was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1987. Galtung is known for contributions to mathematics and sociology in the 1950s, political science in the 1960s, economics and history in the 1970s, macro history, anthropology and theology in the 1980s. He has developed several influential theories, such as the distinction between positive and negative peace, structural violence, theories on conflict and conflict resolution, the concept of peacebuilding, the structural theory of imperialism, and the theory of the United States as simultaneously a republic and an empire.

Sondre Lerche

Indie rock Artist

Sondre Lerche is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Harald Fairhair

Noble person

Harald Halfdansson, better known as Harald Hårfagre English: Harald Fairhair, was remembered by medieval historians as the first King of Norway. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, he reigned from c. 872 to 930. Most of his life remains uncertain, since the extant accounts of his life in the sagas were set down in writing around three centuries after his lifetime. A few remnants of skaldic praise poems attributed to contemporary court poets exist which seem to refer to Haraldr's victories against opponents in Norway. The information supplies in these poems is inconsistent with the tales in the sagas in which they are transmitted, and the sagas themselves often disagree on the details of his background and biography. Two of his sons, Eric Bloodaxe and Haakon the Good, followed Harald to become kings over extensive territories in Norway after his death.

Grete Waitz

Olympic athlete

Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. Waitz won nine New York City Marathons between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She also won a silver medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.

Olve Eikemo

Black metal Artist

Olve Eikemo, better known by his stage name Abbath Doom Occulta, is a Norwegian composer, vocalist, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer, and one of the founding members of the black metal band Immortal. Before founding Immortal, Abbath performed with Old Funeral alongside future Immortal member Demonaz. While working with Old Funeral, he also joined Demonaz's band Amputation which later became Immortal. He also plays bass in Demonaz's newly started project, Demonaz. Although he is primarily a guitarist, he is also proficient as a drummer, using techniques such as blast beats and double bass which are present in black metal.

Natassia Malthe

Actor

Natassia Malthe is a Norwegian model and actress.

Gylve Nagell

Black metal Artist

Gylve Fenris Nagell, better known as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician who is best known as being one half of the metal duo Darkthrone. Although primarily a drummer, he has also performed bass, guitar and vocals for Darkthrone and a number of other metal bands. Fenriz has had three solo projects: the folk metal project Isengard, the dark ambient project Neptune Towers and the traditional metal project Red Planet.

Kirsten Flagstad

Singer

Kirsten Målfrid Flagstad was a Norwegian opera singer and a highly regarded Wagnerian soprano. She ranks among the greatest singers of the 20th century, and many opera critics called hers "the voice of the century." Desmond Shawe-Taylor wrote of her in the New Grove Dictionary of Opera: "No one within living memory surpassed her in sheer beauty and consistency of line and tone."

Alexander Dale Oen

Swimmer

Alexander Dale Oen was a Norwegian swimmer. He represented the clubs Vestkantsvømmerne and Bærumsvømmerne. Dale Oen's gold at the 2008 European Championships made him the first Norwegian male to win a medal at a major international long course championship. Dale Oen got his international breakthrough in 2005, placing seventh in the 100-metre breaststroke during the 2005 World Aquatics Championships. During the European short-course Championships in December the same year, he swam the 100 m breaststroke in 59.05 seconds, placing fourth and setting a new Nordic Record. He became the first Norwegian to swim this distance in less than 1 minute. At the Norwegian Short Course Championships two months later, he bettered that time to 58.81, a world best mark for the year. On 30 April 2012, at around 19:50 MST Dale Oen was found unconscious in his hotel bathroom after having suffered a heart attack, caused by chronic, undetected coronary heart disease, a rare disease for a person of his age and fitness. He was found in his bathroom by one of his teammates, and CPR was performed before Dale Oen was brought to Flagstaff Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 21:00 MST. Dale Oen was attending a training camp with the Norwegian swimming team in Flagstaff, Arizona at the time of his death.

Ketil Bjørnstad

Third Stream Artist

Ketil Bjørnstad is a Norwegian pianist, composer and author. Initially trained as a classical pianist, Bjørnstad discovered jazz at an early age and has embraced the emergence of "European jazz". He is an artist on the ECM record label, but has also published some 20 books and a number of poetry and essay collections. He has collaborated with other ECM artists, including cellist David Darling, drummer Jon Christensen, and guitarist Terje Rypdal.

Kari Bremnes

Singer

Kari Bremnes is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. She got an M.A. in language, literature, history and theater studies from the University of Oslo, and worked as a journalist for several years before deciding to dedicate herself to music full time. In 1987 she received the Spellemannprisen for the record Mitt ville hjerte, and in 1991 for the record Spor. With her two brothers, Lars and Ola, she received the prize for the record Soløye in 2001. She is also deputy board chairman of the Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists.

Jarle Bernhoft

Singer

Jarle Bernhoft, also known as Bernhoft, is a Norwegian singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and lyricist. Bernhoft is from Nittedal in Norway, but currently lives in Oslo. His best known songs are "Streetlights", "Shout", "Choices", "C'mon Talk" and "Stay With Me".

Henning Berg

Soccer

Henning Stille Berg is a Norwegian football manager and former player. He played as a central defender or right-back from 1988 until 2004, most notably in the Premier League where he won titles with both Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United, thus becoming the first player to win the Premier League with two different clubs. He also played in his native land for Vålerenga and Lillestrøm before finishing his career in the Scottish Premier League with Rangers. He was capped 100 times by Norway, scoring 9 goals. Berg became a manager in 2005 with Lyn and then Lillestrøm. He returned to Blackburn as manager in 2012, but was sacked after just 57 days in the post, overseeing ten games including only one victory.

Orjan Nilsen

Remixer

Ørjan Nilsen is a Norwegian trance and progressive producer-DJ. At the age of 7, Nilsen got his first keyboard, and started to practice on it frequently for the next couple of years and at the age of 16, Nilsen got his first very own synthesizer. At the end of 2004, Nilsen had made several unofficial remixes and a couple of own productions, that got the attention of the trance community. His tracks began to be played on radio stations and clubs all over the world, though nothing was signed by any label. In 2006 Nilsen has released his first signed vinyl – "Arctic Globe / Prison Break" on Intuition Recordings. "Arctic Globe" was voted #1 on the Dutch Dance Charts at that time. Since then, he has released a handful of prime level tracks including La Guitarra, Lovers Lane, GO FAST! and others. Nilsen is currently taking gigs all over the world and his music career is developing rapidly, although the DJ Governor moniker is at rest. In the last fewyears he has been wow’ing audiences across the planet with his take on what a 21st-century DJ and producer should be about. Born in 1982 in the Norwegian town of Kirkenes, Ørjan has had very little doubt about what he wanted to do with his life, having listened to countless CD compilations, and seeing some of the legends DJing, Ørjan knew that the DJ booth would be his domain one day. Ørjans work with the Dutch label Armada Music started with the track “Red Woods” released in 2006 under his DJGovernor alias, and over the years Ørjan found his groove, flashing samples of his huge potential, with “La Guitarra”, Lovers Lane and So Long Radio. Ørjan wenton to release his first artist album in 2011 titled “In My Opinion” which stormed up sales charts and catapulted Ørjan onto the watch-list of every EDM-fan around. Even though “In My Opinion” was very successful, Ørjan showed no intention of slowing down, quickly releasing mammoth tracks like “Viking”, “Atchoo” and opening 2012 in collaboration with Armin van Buuren and the aptlytitled “Belter” followed by his own “Amsterdam” and “Endymion” before finishing out the year with clubdestroyers “Copperfield” and “Filthy Fandango”. As a DJ Ørjan Nilsen quickly established himself with aninfectious blend of all things chunky and groovy, his energyand presence behind the decks has taken him around the world playing at some of the world’s finest clubs and biggest festivals, from São Paulo to Sydney and many places in between.It has been a remarkable journey which resulted inrecognition from industry heavy weights.

Roy Sætre Khantatat

Symphonic metal Artist

Roy Sætre Khantatat, is a Norwegian singer. Commonly known as Roy Khan or simply Khan, he was the lead vocalist for the symphonic power metal band Kamelot from 1997 to his departure in 2011. He co-wrote most of Kamelot's songs with the band's guitarist and founder Thomas Youngblood during his tenure. Prior to joining Kamelot, Khan was lead singer for the Norwegian progressive metal band Conception from 1991 until 1997 when they disbanded.

Tora Berger

Biathlete

Tora Berger is a Norwegian World Cup level biathlete and Olympic champion.

Erlend Øye

Electronic Artist

Erlend Øye is a Norwegian musician from Bergen, best known for being part of the indie folk duo Kings of Convenience together with Eirik Glambek Bøe. He has released one solo album, Unrest, in 2003 and a mix-CD in the DJ-Kicks series in 2004. He was born on 21 November 1975 in Bergen and formed the band Skog together with some friends in the mid-1990s. He joined the band Peachfuzz in 1996 as electric guitarist, and played several times in London between 1996-98. Øye moved to London in 1998 and then to Manchester for the first half of 1999. When he was back home in Bergen for vacations he jammed with Bøe. They formed Kings of Convenience in 1998 and released their first album, Quiet is the New Loud in 2001. Øye had become interested in electronic music and spent the next years in Berlin or travelling around the world, recording his solo album Unrest in ten different cities with ten different electronica artists such as Morgan Geist, Prefuse 73, and Schneider TM. He has toured as a DJ who sings along with the records that he plays, and in 2004 he released a remix CD in the DJ Kicks series. The album featured covers and remixes of "Always on My Mind", "It's a Fine Day", Cornelius, and his own songs. That year also saw the next release by Kings of Convenience.

Joshua King

Soccer Midfielder

Joshua Christian Kojo King is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers. He plays as a striker or a winger. Born in Oslo to a Gambian immigrant father, King was signed by Manchester United from Vålerenga in 2008. After loan spells with Preston North End, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers, King signed permanently with Blackburn in January 2013.

Espen Lind

Pop Artist

Espen Lind, is a Norwegian record producer, songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one half of the production team Espionage. Espen is set to be a mentor on the Norwegian version of The Voice 2013.

Liv Kristine

Symphonic metal Artist

Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull, better known as Liv Kristine, is the former vocalist for the band Theatre of Tragedy and current vocalist for the band Leaves' Eyes.

Lene

Europop Artist

Lene Grawford Nystrøm Rasted, better known by her stage name Lene, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist of the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua.