It is located on the Varanger Peninsula along the Barents Sea, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the village of Berlevåg.

The lighthouse was founded in 1916, but destroyed when the Germans withdrew from Finnmark in the autumn of 1944.

It was rebuilt in 1949 based on designs made by the architects Gudolf Blakstad and Herman Munthe-Kaas.

In 1983, a small fishing vessel named Austhavet wrecked close to Kjølnes in a storm.

The lighthouse has been used as a guest house/rental cottage since 1994 when it was automated and the keeper's house was no longer occupied.