As of 2021[update], he is a professor of peace and conflict studies at Bjørknes University College and heads a consultancy firm Oslo Analytica.

[1] Tronvoll was born on (1966-03-02) 2 March 1966 (age 59)[2] He graduated with a master's degree at the University of Oslo and a PhD in political anthropology at the London School of Economics.

He said that civil society organisations and independent newspapers briefly existed in Eritrea in 2001 following the 1998–2000 Eritrean–Ethiopian War, but were crushed from September to December 2001.

A Joint Council of Africa meeting in Norway planned for early February 2021 was cancelled as a result of the death threats, to avoid risks to the participants.

The embassy stated that Tronvoll's analysis of the Tigray War and its context consisted of "unfounded criticism and baseless serious accusations against the Ethiopian government".