[2] His parents ran a jazz club in Stavanger, and he learned to play drums on the kit owned by his father.

In 1994, during studies on the Jazz program at the Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1994–96), he formed the band Element which musically became a platform for several other groups with bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and pianist Håvard Wiik and led to collaborations with Iain Ballamy and Chris Potter.

[citation needed] Continuing, "by the early 2000s, Nilssen-Love had launched an international career, playing alongside Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and American reed player Ken Vandermark, among others.

"[2] He has worked with his trio Vandermark and Ab Baars, the bands Large Unit (a big band, with about 14 members, which he has led and composed for since 2013),[2][3] School Days, The Thing, Scorch Trio, Territory Band, FME, and various duo projects such as with reedmen Peter Brötzmann and Vandermark guitarist Terrie Hessels (The Ex), saxophonist John Butcher, organist Nils Henrik Asheim, and noise experimentalist Lasse Marhaug.

[1][4] In 2014, Nilssen-Love decided to leave the band Atomic to concentrate on Large Unit and projects involving more improvising.