Anne Holt

Anne Holt (born 16 November 1958) is a Norwegian author, lawyer and former Minister of Justice.

Early life

She was born in Larvik, grew up in Lillestrøm and Tromsø, and moved to Oslo in 1978. Holt graduated with a law degree from the University of Bergen in 1986, and worked for The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in the period 1984 to 1988.

Career

She then worked at the Oslo Police Department for two years, earning her right to practice as a lawyer in Norway. In 1990 she returned to NRK, where she worked one year as a journalist and anchor woman for the news program Dagsrevyen.

Anne Holt started her own law practice in 1994, and served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from 25 November 1996 to 4 February 1997. She resigned for health reasons, and was replaced by Gerd-Liv Valla.

Writing

In 1993 she made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind gudinne, featuring the lesbian police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen. The two novels Løvens gap (1997) and Uten ekko (2000) are co-authored with her former state secretary Berit Reiss-Andersen.

She is one of the most successful crime novelists in Norway. She has been published in 25 countries. Val McDermid, a Scottish crime writer has once said that "Anne Holt is the latest crime writer to reveal how truly dark it gets in Scandinavia.”

Personal life

She lives in Oslo with her registered partner Anne Christine Kjær (also known as Tine Kjær) and their daughter Iohanne.