Espen Karlsen completed his education at the Norwegian Hotel College in Stavanger and is a skilled chef. He worked for 15 years for Nordic Choice as Nordic Sales Director, and Hotel Director at Farris Bad and The Thief, among others. From 2013 to 2017 he led the Raise Group, which owns and operates three hairdressing chains with 150 hairdressing salons in Norway and Sweden under the brand names Nikita, SaySo and Headmaster.

Espen has led Jernia since April 2017, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. He is convinced that the future of retail lies in making a meaningful contribution to the green transition. He is leading Jernia towards operating on a circular business-model basis. This includes initiatives like lending tools to customers rather than selling them; providing comprehensive repair services; and finding ways to recycle materials and components when they reach the end of their useful life. The focus should be on durability, not disposability. The key revenue shift will be from direct sale to service and leasing options.