Ari Behn - Life

Life

Behn was born in Århus, Denmark. He is the eldest child of Olav Bjørshol (b. 1952) and Marianne Rafaela Solberg (b. 1953). Both his parents are Waldorf teachers who have worked at the Waldorf School in Moss; his father has a degree in special education while his mother has trained as a Waldorf teacher. His parents married in 1973 but divorced after nine years; both have since remarried, Olav Bjørshol to a daughter of André Bjerke. However, in 2007 the parents of Ari Behn were married again.

Behn's original surname was Bjørshol. In 1996, he changed his name to Ari Behn when he took his maternal grandmother's maiden name. The name Behn has German origin. He has two younger siblings, Anja Sabrina and Espen, neither of whom use the name Behn. In 2009, it was made public that Behn's de jure paternal grandfather Bjarne Nikolai Bjørshol was not his biological grandfather. Ari Behn's father met his biological father, Terje Erling Ingebrigtsen, for the first time, but Ingebrigtsen died before Ari Behn had a chance to meet him.

Ari Bjørshol attended the Waldorf School in Moss and is baptized in The Christian Community. He has a bachelor's degree in history and religion from University of Oslo.

Behn achieved immediate literary success with his first collection of short stories, which received several good reviews and has sold more than 100,000 copies. He subsequently published two novels; however, the reviews of these works were less positive.

Together with his wife, Princess Märtha, he has written a book about their wedding in 2002. He has also participated in various creative projects — for example, the design of china for Magnor Glassverk.