Thorgrimur Thrainsson

Þorgrímur Þráinsson (born 8 January 1959 in Reykjavík), is an Icelandic writer, motivational speaker and former footballer. He has been a spokesperson for health, humanity and justice.

Writer Since 1989, Þorgrímur has written 38 books. He has been Iceland's most popular author of books for teenagers. His books are listed among most sold, rented and read books in Iceland. [ see bibliography]

Statistical facts According to statistics provided by Icelandic libraries, a book by Þorgrímur is rented once every 5 minutes. Seven of his books made it to the list of the 100 Best Books of the Century published by Icelandic Publishers' Association. Two of his books were listed as Best Children's Books of the Century published by Icelandic Publishers' Association, which is the second highest score after the Nobel Prize Winner Halldór Laxness. He is the only author in Iceland to simultaneously have 2 of his books in 1st and 2nd place on the Icelandic Record Sale List. Two of his books were listed as Best Selling Fiction Books in 2010: The Fog and Are You God, Granddad? His book, How to Make Your Wife Happy – Sexual and Practical Tips for Men, was the most talked-about book in Iceland in 2007.

Career in sports

Playing career Þorgrímur began his career with Víkingur Ólafsvík in the third division. He played 179 matches in the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla for Valur, one of Iceland's biggest clubs. He acted as the captain of the team from 1986 to 1990, during this period Valur became national champions 3 times and 2 times Icelandic Cup winner. Þorgrímur played 12 games with Valur in the UEFA Champions League, against Aston Villa, Juventus, Monaco, Nantes, Dynamo Berliner and Wismut Aue.

From 1979 to 1990 Þorgrímur played 17 games for the Icelandic national team.

President of Valur In October 2016, Þorgrímur was voted as the president of Valur and served until May 2019.

Work for the national team From 2007 Þorgrímur worked for the national football team. The work included involvement with the preparations of the National Team to the participation in UEFA Euro 2016, in France, which turned out to be the biggest football success in the Icelandic history. He was involved in supporting the national team in their preparations to the participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was attempting to make Iceland the first country in the world to implement a smoking ban in clubs and restaurants. Iceland became the first country in the world to implement the Tobacco display ban.

The President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson was a big support to his work and some of the press meetings were hosted by the President in the President's residence.

TV reality show In 2008 Þorgrímur participated in lasting 8 weeks reality show Cool in great shape by Basecamp Productions, which portrayed different public figures performing various sports and fitness tasks in order to have their biological age estimated based on their performance and health tests. Þorgrímur won the contest and at the chronological age of 49 Þorgrímur's biological age was estimated to be 27.

Motivational speaking Since 2008, Þorgrímur has conducted programs consisting of presentations and motivational lectures for adolescents aged 15–16, titled: "Be in love with life!" and for children aged 12–14, titled: "Be the hero in your life -- by helping others". His presentations encourage youth to be responsible for their life and future and to set goals. During the past 10 years his program has taken place in all the schools of Iceland. Þorgrímur's program delivers approx. 200 speeches and presentations a year, which will reach 2,000 in total by 2018. Annually he also delivers about 25 presentations for the companies: ,,Great team spirit—what can we learn from the national team?“.

Modeling During his football career, Þorgrímur worked as a model for local clothing brands such as Icewear and Henson.

Awards 2016: Barnaheill (Children's Welfare Award) for his contribution to the welfare of children 2010: The Icelandic Children's Book Prize for, Are You God, Granddad? 2005: 1st prize in a script contest of Reykjanesbær for Little red mouse 2000: Children's book award for The cow that disappeared 1997: Icelandic Children's Book Prize for, Much hides in the dark 1992: Visa-cultural prize for contribution to children's books 1991: Children's book award of Reykjavík for The tear, smile and football shoes ''