Hey! I'm Bjørnar Hagen, software engineer 👋

01

Personal

Born and raised in Larvik, Norway. Currently living in Sandefjord.

I’ve always loved building and taking things apart, so when I at a young age was introduced to computers, it didn’t take very long before I was taking them apart and learning about how they worked. When I was 14 I saved up scholarship money originally ment for school equipment to instead buy computer parts so I could build my first desktop computer. Once I had that built, I started learning about code and software. I was instantly facinated with the web technologies and building websites. Since then I’ve learnt more and more about programming and different software techologies.

02

Career

I learnt HTML, CSS, JS and PHP through self study and got a few gigs through some close friends. Later on I got my first "real job" as an apprentice at Optimale Systemer in Larvik. Around the same time I started the company Datahjelpen so to take on extra jobs outside of work and school.

After 2 years at Optimale Systemer I had learned a lot and considered myself a full-stack web developer, though still very much a junior. I now knew how to setup the LEMP stack from scratch on a VPS, and I could make both the front-end and back-end of a webapp. After this I moved to Halden to start on my Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering at Østfold College University.

3 years later I got my degree and moved to Sandefjord, where I still live. I started working full-time in Datahjelpen. After a good year, Covid unfortunately became a thing. I had to find a more stable job as no one was willing to start new projects at the time. That is how I ended up at Adstate, where I stayed for 4 years.

In 2023 I started NUVA with a couple of friends.

I’m currently working full-time at Gokstad Akademiet.

Work experience

  • Gokstad Akademiet AS

    IT manager

    2025 ⟶ present

  • River Security AS

    Senior full-stack developer

    2024 ⟶ 2025

  • NUVA AS

    Developer & COB

    2023 ⟶ present (sidegig)

  • Rapid Data AS (formerly Adstate AS)

    Full-stack developer

    2020 ⟶ 2024

  • Datahjelpen AS

    Developer & CEO

    2016 ⟶ present (Mostly part-time)

  • Optimale Systemer AS

    Junior developer

    2014 ⟶ 2016

Devloper experience

  • HTML, CSS, SASS, Tailwind
  • JavaSript, TypeScript, Node.js, PHP, Bash
  • HTMX, Svelte, React, Vue, Angular
  • Astro, SvelteKit, Next.js, Laravel, WordPress
  • PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite
  • Git, Docker, k8s, Helm, Coolify, LEMP/LAMP

Other experience

  • Linux, MacOS
  • GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
  • AWS, DigitalOcean, Netlify, Vercel.
  • Matomo/Piwik
  • Figma
  • Photoshop