Private company

Aschehoug

Logo: H. Aschehoug & Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Norwegian publishing house

H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug, is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises other publishing houses which it owns partially or wholly.2 Its chief executive is Mads Nygaard (since 2009).1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1872Founded1
  • Industrypublishing1
  • HeadquartersOslo1
  • Websiteaschehoug.no
  • Legal formaksjeselskap1
  • LEI5493008N4BXINRFBQB913
  • StatusInactive3
  • LEI statusRetired3
  • Registered addressSehesteds gate 3, 0164 Oslo, Norway3
  • Registered withThe Brønnøysund Register Centre, 910 292 0053

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Aschehoug oslo
Photo: Harald Groven, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons6

H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug, (pronounced [ˈɑ̂skəhæʉ]) is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises other publishing houses which it owns partially or wholly. The name Aschehoug can be directly translated as "ash hill".2

Corporate structure

Aschehoug sits at the top of its group. 3 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Aschehoug reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.1

The story

Aschehoug was founded as a bookstore in 1872 on Egertorvet in Oslo by the cousins Hieronymus and Halvard Aschehoug. From the start the firm was involved in publishing in a modest way, its output consisting mainly of school books. In 1888, the company was taken over by William Martin Nygaard (1865–1952) and Thorstein Lambrechts (1856–1933), who kept the name while expanding its operations.

In 1900, William Nygaard withdrew from the bookselling side of the business and established a publishing company, which was given the name H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard). In 1935, following the death of Nygaard, the publishing house turned into a corporation in connection with the inheritance settlement, and Nygaard's son, Mads Wiel Nygaard became the Executive Officer.

Aschehoug have published many important books over their years of operation. Important Norwegian authors first published by Aschehoug include the Nobel Prize laureate, Sigrid Undset, as well as Fridtjof Nansen, Johan Falkberget, Hans E. Kinck, Aksel Sandemose, Arne Garborg — all writers whose works are today regarded as classics of Norwegian literature.

From Wikipedia’s article on Aschehoug, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Leadership

Who has led Aschehoug, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Chief executive

  1. Mads Nygaard2009–now
197019801990200020102020
Board members and other officers (1)

Products and brands

Aschehoug's publishing program is divided into three main categories: works of fiction, including books for children and younger readers; works of reference, popular science and handbooks on various hobbies; and Norway's leading publishing house for textbooks, for every level of instruction.

In 2004, Aschehoug Agency was founded to represent the foreign rights of Forlaget Oktober, Aschehoug and Universitetsforlaget publishing houses. Aschehoug has an interest in several other publishing companies, among them:

Universitetsforlaget (100%) - the main academic press in Norway

Forlaget Oktober (91%) - formerly the Marxist-Leninist press, now a publisher of fiction

Read the full text

Norli Gruppen (100%) - bookstore chain

Lydbokforlaget (33%) - audiobooks

De norske Bokklubbene (48.5%) - book clubs

Forlagsentralen (50%) - distributes more than 75% of all books in Norway

Kunnskapsforlaget (50%) - publishes encyclopedias

Aschehoug also published Salman Rushdie's book Satanic Verses. The company's then CEO William Nygaard was shot and seriously wounded in 1993, presumably as a result of the fatwa issued against Rushdie and his publishers.

From Wikipedia’s article on Aschehoug, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

  • Amediastiftelsen

Subsidiaries

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 2009New chief executive Mads Nygaard becomes CEO1
  2. 1872Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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