Jo Inge Bjørnebye was born on the farm of Sjurderud in Våler municipality, one of the biggest farms in the area. In the late 1960s he emerged as one of Norway’s leading ski jumpers, participating in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. His best international placing was a fourth place in the 1970-71 Four-Hills Tournament at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Bjørnebye married and was the father of two sons and one daughter. One of his sons, Stig Inge Bjørnebye, was a well-known footballer, with a professional career in Liverpool and Blackburn and with 75 caps for Norway. Jo Inge Bjørnebye worked in the insurance business in Oslo for several years, but later moved to Elverum and worked in a property company. In the autumn of 2011 he was diagnosed with cancer, and died 1½ years later.
Norway