Career
He is best known for his "Elling" tetralogy: Utsikt til paradiset (1993), Fugledansen (1995),, and Elsk meg i morgen (1999). Brødre i blodet ("Blood brothers") was turned into a successful movie, entitled Elling, which received an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Film category in 2001. The English translation of the novel is called Beyond the Great Indoors.
Born in Tønsberg and raised in Larvik, his debut novel was a semi-autobiography called 23-salen ("The 23rd Row"), in which he criticized Norway"s efforts to take care of psychically challenged individuals.
In all his novels he has spoken for the outsiders" cause, as he did in his break-through novel Hvite Niggere ("White Niggers") in 1986. The novel is about a young man who leads a life somewhat on the edges of normal society.
He started this project after reading some of Franklin West. Dixon"s books about The Hardy Boys. The books Døden på Oslo South, Giftige Løgner, and De Blå Ulvene of this series were also turned into successful movies.
In 2005 the book Drapene i Barkvik ("The murders in Barkvik") appeared, about the teenager Fillip Moberg attempting to solve an axe murder in a small Norwegian village.
In 2010 Ambjørnsen stopped writing novels. Farvel til romanen. 24 timer i grenseland, published in 2014, is about that decision and about how he came to write his novels. His three Samson and Roberto books have become particularly popular in Russia, in part due to the illustrations by Nikolay Vorontsov, which also contribute carefully orchestrated local Russian-related colloquialisms to the stories.
Until 2014, Ambjørnsen frequently reviewed books for the Norwegian newspaper VG. In 2009 he was made an honorary citizen of Larvik.
