Jørn Lier Horst

Jørn Lier Horst (born 27 February 1970) is a Norwegian author of crime fiction and a former Senior Investigating Officer at Vestfold police district. His books have been published in over 40 countries and have sold more than ten million copies. Horst made his writing debut in 2004 with Key Witness, based on a true murder story. The detective character in his crime novels is William Wisting, and a television series based on the series premiered in 2019.

Together with Thomas Enger, he writes the thriller series about policeman Alexander Blix and news blogger Emma Ramm.

He has also written children's books, including a series named Clue and books about Detective Agency No. 2.

Personal life
Horst was born in Bamble, Telemark, the younger of two brothers. His parents were Oddvar and Hildur Lier Olsen. In 1995 he married Beate Horst and now uses her surname. They live in Stavern with their two children.

William Wisting series

 * 1) Key Witness (Org. Nøkkelvitnet, 2004)
 * 2) Disappearance of Felicia (Org. Felicia forsvant, 2005)
 * 3) When the Sea Calms (Org. Når havet stilner, 2006)
 * 4) The Only One (Org. Den eneste ene, 2007)
 * 5) The Night Man (Org. Nattmannen, 2009) - translated into English July 2022
 * 6) Dregs (Org. Bunnfall, 2010) - translated into English by Anne Bruce, 2011
 * 7) Closed for Winter (Org. Vinterstengt, 2011) - translated into English 2013
 * 8) The Hunting Dogs (Org. Jakthundene, 2012) - translated into English 2014
 * 9) The Caveman (Org. Hulemannen, 2013) -  translated into English 2015
 * 10) Ordeal (Org. Blindgang, 2015) - translated into English 2016
 * 11) When It Grows Dark (Org. Når Det Mørkner, 2016) - translated into English 2016 (A prequel to the series.)
 * 12) The Katharina Code (Org. Katharina-koden, 2017) - translated into English 2018
 * 13) The Cabin (Org. Det innerste rommet, 2018) - translated into English 2019
 * 14) The Inner Darkness (Org. Illvilje, 2019)- translated into English 2020
 * 15) A Question of Guilt (Org. Sak 1569, 2020)- translated into English 2021
 * 16) Snow Fall (Org. Grenseløs, 2021) - translated into English 2023
 * 17) The Traitor (Org. Forræderen, 2022) - translated into English 2024

Blix/Ramm series

 * 1) Death Deserved (Org. Nullpunkt, 2018) - translated into English 2019
 * 2) Smoke Screen (Org. Røykteppet, 2019) - translated into English 2020
 * 3) Unhinged (Org. Slagside, 2020) - translated into English 2021
 * 4) Stigma (Org. Arr, 2022) - translated into English 2023

Children's books
Detective Agency no. 2 series
 * 1) Operasjon Tordensky (2013)
 * 2) Operasjon Mørkemann (2013)
 * 3) Operasjon Solnedgang (2013)
 * 4) Operasjon Påskelilje (2014)
 * 5) Operasjon Sommerøya (2014)
 * 6) Operasjon Vindkast (2014)
 * 7) Operasjon Bronseplass (2015)
 * 8) Jakten på Kaptein Kroghs gull (2015)
 * 9) Operasjon Plastpose (2015)
 * 10) Operasjon Sirkus (2016)
 * 11) Jakten på Jungelens Dronning (2016)
 * 12) Operasjon Spøkelse (2016)
 * 13) Operasjon Sjørøver (2017)
 * 14) Jakten på Tyven-tyven (2017)
 * 15) Operasjon Mumie (2017)
 * 16) Detektivhåndboken (2017)
 * 17) Operasjon Skipsvrak (2018)
 * 18) Jakten på slottets hemmelighet (2018)
 * 19) Operasjon Skrotnisse (2018)
 * 20) Operasjon Svartskog (2019)
 * 21) Jakten på Trollmannens bok (2019)
 * 22) Operasjon Radius (2019)
 * 23) Operasjon Lurifaks (2020)
 * 24) Jakten på den siste dinosauren (2020)
 * 25) Operasjon Rød sløyfe (2020)
 * 26) Dekkoperasjon (2021)
 * 27) Jakten på enhjørningen (2021)
 * 28) Operasjon Heksegryte (2021)
 * 29) Operasjon Ninja (2022)
 * 30) Jakten på Campingkongen (2022)
 * 31) Operasjon Gulltann (2022)
 * 32) Jakten på den magiske julebyen (2022)
 * 33) Operasjon Fartsstripe (2023)
 * 34) Jakten på Vikingskatten (2023)
 * 35) Operasjon Fangejakt (2023)

Clue series
 * 1) Salamandergåten (2012) (The Salamander Mystery)
 * 2) Maltsergåten (2012) (The Maltese Mystery)
 * 3) Undervannsgåten (2013) (The Underwater Mystery)
 * 4) Gravrøvergåten (2013) (The Grave Robbing Mystery)
 * 5) Libertygåten (2014) (The Liberty Mystery)
 * 6) Esmeraldgåten (2014) (The Emeralda Mystery)
 * 7) Rivertongåten (2014) (The Riverton Mystery)
 * 8) Hodeskallegåten (2016) (The Skull Mystery)
 * 9) Ulvehundgåten (2016) (The Wolfhound Mystery)
 * 10) Sjøormgåten (2017) (The Sea Serpent Mystery)
 * 11) Einsteingåten (2017) (The Einstein Mystery)
 * 12) Triangelgåten (2018) (The Triangle Mystery)
 * 13) Smuglerhuset (2019) (The Smuggler’s Shack)

Other
In the autumn of 2022, Horst took part in the celebrity version of the reality program The Traitors. In 2023 Horst participated in the fourth season of Masked Singer Norway, disguised as The Magician (Magikeren).

Awards and honours
2010 The Riverton Prize shortlist for Dregs (no)

2011 The Riverton Prize shortlist for Closed for Winter (no)

2011 The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize for Closed for Winter (no)

2011 Vestfold Literature Prize (no)

2012 The Riverton Prize for The Hunting Dogs (no)

2012 Ark’s Children's Book award shortlist for The Salamander mystery (no)

2013 The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize shortlist for The Hunting dogs (no)

2013 The Glass Key award for The Hunting Dogs (nordic)

2013 The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize shortlist for The Caveman (no)

2016 The Petrona Award for The Caveman (uk)

2014 The Martin Beck Award for The Hunting Dogs (swe)

2015 Ark’s Book of the Year shortlist for Ordeal (no)

2016 The Avid Reader Award shortlist for The Riverton Mystery (no)

2016 Special Award for Excellence in Crime Fiction Writing (PL)

2016 The Petrona Award for The Caveman (uk)

2017 The Avid Reader Award shortlist for The Wolfhound Mystery (no)

2017 BOK365 Book of the Year shortlist for The Katharina code (no)

2017 CWA International Dagger longlist for When it grows dark (uk)

2018 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière shortlist for The Hunting dogs (fr)

2018 BOK365 Book of the Year shortlist for The Cabin (no)

2018 The Nordic Noir Thriller of the Year Award for Dregs (nordic)

2019 Grand Prix de Littérature Policière shortlist for The Caveman (fr)

2019 CWA International Dagger longlist for The Katharina Code (uk)

2019 BOK365 Book of the Year shortlist for The Inner Darkness (no)

2019 The Petrona Award for The Katharina Code (uk)

2020 The Edgar Award shortlist for The Wisting tv-series (us)

2020 CWA International Dagger longlist for The Cabin (uk)

2020 The Petrona Award shortlist for The Cabin (uk)

2021 Prix du Bureau des Lecteurs shortlist for Ordeal (fr)

2021 Vrij Nederland’s Thriller of the Year shortlist for The Katharina Code (nl)

2021 The Petrona Award shortlist for Death Deserved (uk)

2021 The Beech Book Award shortlist for A Question of Guilt (no)

2023 The Beech Book Award shortlist for The Traitor (no)

2023 The Alf Prøysen's honorary award for the bestselling series The Detective Agency No. 2 (no)

2023 Chosen as writer of the year by Aftenposten Junior (no)

2024 Winner of The Finnish Whodunnit Society's honorary award for Excellence in Foreign Crime Writing (fi)

2024 The Riverton Prize shortlist for Victim (no)