Onassis Encounters: Jo Nesbo

Soccer player, economist, rock star, Jo Nesbo quit many careers before finding his true calling; that is, writing for the only things worth writing for, as he says: crime and love. The master of crime fiction and dedicated climber, who raises the bar with every book he writes, was hosted on the Main Stage of the Onassis Stegi in October 2017, to celebrate along with the Greek Nesbomaniacs a journey that shows his restless spirit.

The discussion was moderated by journalists Marilena Astrapellou and Giorgos Nastos.

He might have been playing at the Norwegian Premier League for Molde at the age of 17 and dreaming of becoming a soccer star with Tottenham; he might have been writing songs and singing in a Norwegian band with sold-out gigs all over the country and best-selling discs, while working with the largest brokerage in his country, yet writing was what made him world-famous after all. During a flight from Oslo to Sydney, Nesbo came up with the plot of his first novel, “The Bat,” for which he won the 1997 Riverton Prize for Best Norwegian Crime Novel of the Year. Thus the legendary detective Harry Hole was born, this cult, self-destructive, hopelessly in love with one woman, opposing any form of power, alcoholic Norwegian police officer, who listens to Sex Pistols and Neil Young, while his best friend is Jim Beam. Harry Hole is undeniably one of the most addictive and popular literary characters of our times.

During these two decades, Nesbo’s dark and exciting novels as well as his scripts for films and television have turned him into one of the leading representatives of crime fiction.