Statue of Ástgeir Kristinn Ólafsson
He was better known as Ási i Bæ, was born on February 27, 1914. His mother was Kristín Jónsdóttir and his father Ólafur Ástgeirsson, who was a well-known boat builder in the Islands, and they lived in Litlabær in the Vestmannaeyjar.
At a young age he started sea rowing with his father on an open motor boat. During his teenage years, he fell ill with persistent bone erosion in his right leg, which plagued him throughout his life, and he was bedridden for a whole year at this age due to the disease. He feared that he would not be able to continue fishing, but as soon as he had recovered, he went fishing again.
He graduated from Samvinnuskolin in 1940. He worked as a clerk in Vestmannaeyjar for a while, but for the longest time he worked at sea mostly as a waiter or a high chair. He acquired the motor boat m/b Herstein together with his other partner in 1955. But in 1959 he bought the motor boat m/b Ugga. He became a fishing king early on and was considered one of the best fishermen in Eyjamid. In 1968, he moved with his family to Reykjavík and worked there as the editor of Spegil.
Ási was a nationally known composer of lyrics and songs, a verse singer and a prolific writer, and he had a lot to say, but especially after he retired from seamanship. He was in the much-acclaimed human culture quartet with Árna úr Eyjum, Loft Guðmundsson and Oddgeir Kristjánsson, who are called the fathers of the classic national holiday songs. The collaboration between Ása i bær and Oddgeir became widely known, and nationally known songs were created from it, e.g. Tans are missing and I know you're coming.
He wrote many books and publications, including He laughs best when he talks about his life struggle, Granninn i westri which is a travel book about Greenland, Breytileg ätt which is a novel, Eyjavísur and the collection of short stories Sea, beer and love. He also released an album where he sang and played his own songs and lyrics.
Ása's wife was Friðmey Eyjólfsdóttir. He died in Reykjavík, aged 71, in the spring of 1985.
Source: Wikipedia