Åse Kleveland was born in Sweden in 1949 and has lived in Norway since 1956. From the age of ten she studied classical guitar, and had her artistic breakthrough in 1964, at the age of 15. She became a very popular singer in the Nordic countries with numerous international performances in Europe and Asia.

She studied law at the University of Oslo from 1971 with particular emphasis on copyright and authors rights. From 1979-1987 she was president of the Norwegian Musicians and Artists’ Union and member of numerous boards, councils and committees in the field of culture, sport and city planning. Between 1980 and 1990 she hosted a number of popular television programmes. From 1986 to 1990 she was president of The Norwegian Equal Rights Council and from 1987 to 1990 Chief Executive of Park Partners, Norway.

In 1990 she was appointed director of culture and ceremonies for the 17th Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer. In November that same year she was appointed Minister of culture, media and sport in the government of Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland. In this position, which she held until 1996, she took on the political responsibility for the Lillehammer Olympic Games and initiated a number of reforms in the field of culture, sports and media.

2000-2006 Åse Kleveland served as CEO of the Swedish Film Institute and Chairman of the Board of Scandinavian Films. She was president and initiator of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation and EDCF -European Digital Cinema Forum.

Since 2006 she is Chief Executive of Concerts Norway, the national organisation for promotion and distribution of live music (approximately 10,000 concerts per year). Among other commitments Åse Kleveland is president of the Norwegian Humanist Association, which is the largest in the world of its kind with close to 80.000 members.

Åse Kleveland has accepted major national awards in the fields of cinema, architecture and design for her political and cultural achievements. Ingmar Bergman awarded her his honourary price in 2006. In 2003 Kleveland was made knight of the French Legion of Honour (Légion d´honneur) for her contributions to the European cultural co-operation.