His Olav Thon Group is Norway's largest private real estate company, with 450 properties, including 60 hotels.

[1][2] Thon began his career by selling animal fur shortly before World War II in Oslo,[3] and he opened his first restaurant in 1966.

[5][3] At the age of 8, Thon started ordering a supply of Christmas cards from a mail-order catalog and selling them to his neighbors.

[4] Originally he had wanted to study medicine but the outbreak of World War II made it harder for him to travel abroad.

[1] His company owns a total of 450 properties in Norway, including shopping malls, office buildings, retail stores, and hotels.

Although he lived with his partner, Sissel Berdal Haga (born 1940), for over 30 years, he did not divorce his wife, as she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

[21][3] After his death, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called Thon a "unique businessman" who "never forgot his roots to the local Norwegian community".