Ole Olsen
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You are now standing in front of Ole Olsen, who is northern Norway’s greatest composer. Ole Olsen was born here in Hammerfest in 1850. At just five years old he had mastered both the violin and the piano, and just a few years later he was standing in for his father as the organist in Hammerfest Church. For a few years he was a watchmaker, but it was music that was his passion, and after having studied the organ and composition in Trondheim, he completed his music studies in Leipzig in 1874. He finally settled in Oslo and became a famous composer with several productions shown at the national theatre, including the Sami inspired opera Lailja and the musical Svein Uræd. Many Norwegian and international critics praised his musical elegance which was characterised with a freshness that was missing in other music of the time. In addition to composing, he was also both a conductor and a musical inspector in the Norwegian Armed Forces. He referred to himself as the world’s most northerly composer and fought for the cultural and artistic wellbeing of the region, right up until his death in 1927.