Thomas Nilsen (born 29 August 1968) is a Norwegian journalist who has extensively covered oil drilling in the Arctic region.
[6] He worked for 12 years for the Bellona Foundation's Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and other environmental challenges in northern areas including the Arctic.
[7] Beginning in 2003,[5] Nilsen worked for thirteen years for the Norwegian Barents Secretariat (NBS), a "local government body that promotes good relations with Russia in a region where the two nations cooperate and compete over fishing, oil and military strategy".
From 2009 to 2015 he was editor of the BarentsObserver, a Norwegian Arctic online newspaper based in Kirkenes, published by NBS.
Kirkenes is in the extreme northeastern part of Norway, on the edge of a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea, near the Russian–Norwegian border.