He was born in Stavanger on 2 September 1960, and is a son of the Norwegian actor Lars Andreas Larssen.

[1] He grew up in Oslo, and was an award-winning journalist in the Norwegian dailies Morgenbladet and Aftenposten, before he made his debut in 1990 with the novel 2, which won him much acclaim.

Among his other books are Kjærlighet før øya synker  (Love before the island sinks), Anti-sex and Norske Helter (Norwegian heroes).

In 2013 he published the documentary novel 1001 natt (1001 night) - about the fate of two Norwegian slaves in northern Africa, and in 2015 the autobiographical Hvordan elske en far - og overleve (How to love a father - and survive), which both became national bestsellers.

1990: 2 1996: Kjærlighet før øya synker 1998: Anti-sex 2006: Norske helter 2013: 1001 natt 2015: Hvordan elske en far - og overleve Gullpennen (1991) Arne Hestenes´ journalistpris (1993) Sarpsborgprisen (1996)