She then worked at the Oslo Police Department for two years, earning her right to practise 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 the Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from 25 October 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.
Her 2015 novel Offline is about a terrorist attack on an Islamic cultural center by a group of extreme Norwegian nationalists.[1]
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 said that "Anne Holt is the latest crime writer to reveal how truly dark it gets in Scandinavia".[2]
Piratforlaget
In 2004, Holt took part in the founding of the Norwegian branch of the Swedish publishing house, Piratforlaget, which had been started by the celebrated Swedish authors Jan Guillou and Liza Marklund. The objective, to publish bestselling writers at reduced prices, was controversial in Scandinavia, where book prices and author advances are highly standardized. Anders Heger, head of the Cappelen publishing house, expressed a widespread concern that Piratforlag would "intensify differences" between "the authors who earn a lot and those who don't".[3]
In 2017, Holt wrote an op-ed in Dagens Nyheter in which she rejected the far-right view that Sweden's immigration policies were reckless and dangerous.[6]
Honours and awards
She has won several awards, including the Riverton Prize (1994) for Salige er de som tørster, the Bokhandler Prize (1995) for Demonens død, and the Cappelen Prize (2001).[7]
Personal life
She lives in Oslo with her registered partner Anne Christine Kjær (also known as Tine Kjær) and their daughter Iohanne.
Bibliography
The Hanne Wilhelmsen series
1993 Blind gudinne (Blind Goddess)
1994 Salige er de som tørster (Blessed Are Those Who Thirst)