Which author created the character Harry Hole?

Jo Nesbø created the character Harry Hole.

Harry Hole is the central detective in a long-running series of crime novels by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø. He is introduced in The Bat, published in 1997, where he works with Oslo’s police force. Across the series, he investigates serial killings, corruption, organized crime, and other difficult cases in Norway and abroad.

Hole is deliberately far from a flawless hero. He is brilliant, isolated, emotionally troubled, and struggles with alcoholism and depression. His unconventional methods often create conflict with colleagues and loved ones, adding a psychological dimension to the investigations.

A possible source of confusion is the character’s surname, which is pronounced differently from the everyday English word in some contexts. Harry Hole is also sometimes compared with other famous detectives, including Sherlock Holmes and Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch. Nesbø has described Bosch as an influence, but Harry Hole is his own Norwegian creation.