Background
He was born in Mandal as a son of bailiff and politician Arne Askildsen (1898–1982) and Aasta Håverstad (1898–1978). Before the Second World War his father was the bailiff of Mandal and Halse og Harkmark from 1928, a board member of the Norwegian Lutheran Mission since 1939, and also a member of the school board and city council. During the war and occupation of Norway, his father was imprisoned in Arkivet twice, before escaping to Sweden in 1944.
Career
He is probably best known for his minimalistic short stories. His first book, the short story collection Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem (1953), raised controversy, especially in Mandal, for its sexual content. After that book, Asklildsen concentrated mainly on novels.
He was awarded the Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment in recognition of his novel, Omgivelser (1969), which was made into the 1973 movie Maria Marusjka, directed by Oddvar Bulletin Tuhus and starring Peter Lindgren.
From 1982 on, all of Askildsen"s published books have been short story collections. lieutenant is mainly these books that made him one of the most acclaimed modern writers in Norway.
In 2006, a jury appointed by the newspaper Dagbladet voted that collection the best prose book written in Norway during the last 25 years. His writings have also been translated into other languages.
He wrote his last short stories for "Hundene i Tessaloniki" ("The dogs of Tessaloniki"), published in 1996, and has published new collections of old stories since.
2010 - Sørlandet Honorary Award.