Aksel Waldemar Johannessen (1880 – 25 October 1922) was a Norwegian artist.

Around 1910, the couple moved to Gjøvik, where Johannessen found a job as a designer for furniture.

Norwegian art critic Jappe Nilssen, a good friend and discoverer of Edvard Munch, said of Johannessen's work, "I dont remember seeing similar works in nordic painting".

The play The Forgotten Painter by Alexander Kratzer is about Johannessen's rediscovery and his work.

The first performance, directed by Andreas Baumgartner, was held in 2011, with Harald Bodigbauer as Aksel Waldemar Johannessen and Thomas Schächl as Haakon Mehren.