Asne Seierstad graduated from the University of Oslo, where she studied Russian and Spanish and the history of philosophy. From 1993 to 1996 she worked as a correspondent for the Arbeiderbladet newspaper in Russia, where, in particular, she visited Chechnya during the First Chechen War.
In 1997, she worked as a correspondent for the same newspaper in China. From 1998 to 2000 she was a Norwegian TV correspondent in Serbia, reporting from Kosovo.
In 2001-2002 she was a correspondent in Afghanistan. She lived for some time in the home of an Afghan family, after which she wrote the book "Kabul Bookseller", which became an international bestseller. In 2003, she spent three months in Iraq before the start of the invasion of the coalition forces, after which she wrote the book “One hundred and one days. Baghdad Diary ".
In 2006, she again visited Chechnya and then wrote the book The Angel of Terrible: Orphans of the Forgotten War. He currently lives and works in Oslo. Married to a Norwegian jazz musician and composer; has two children.