Jo Nesbo is a musician, songwriter, economist and author. He was born in Oslo and grew up in Molde. Nesbo graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics with a degree in economics. He worked as a freelance journalist and a stockbroker before he began his writing career.
He is primarily famous for his crime novels about Detective Harry Hole, but he is also the main singer and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. In 2007 Nesbo also released his first children's book, Doktor Proktors prompepulver, about the aging inventor Doktor Proktor, his next-door neighbor Lise and their peculiar friend Bulle is reminiscent of the books by Roald Dahl.
Nesbo has sold more than one and a half million copies of his novels in Norway, and has been translated into over fifty languages. He has been lavishly praised by international critics for broadening the scope of the contemporary crime novel, and is today regarded as one the best crime writers of our time.