Jon Ole Martinsen is a lawyer, senior advisor and spokesperson for the Norwegian Organization for Asylum-Seekers, where he works with policy-making and legal aid for asylum-seekers. He is responsible for LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum-seekers in NOAS, and through this work he has accumulated substantial experience representing queer asylum-seekers in UDI and UNE cases over the last 20 years.
Martinsen has led NOAS’ Domstolsprosjekt since its inception in 2015, and has previously been a part of Advokatforeningens aksjons- og prosedyregruppe fra 2007-2014. Martinsen also holds lectures at JUS. Martinsen has worked in NOAS since 2012. Prior to this, he has worked in SEIF (Self-help for migrants and refugees) and has since the 1990s worked in other refugee and asylum-seeker focused organizations. I SEIF he was in change of the project «Likeverd» which shed light on LGBT asylum-seekers and youth with multicultural background in Norway. The work led to changes in implementation of the law (Høyesteretts dom mars 2012). Martinsen has also been a national expert and contributor to the report «Fleeing homophobia».
