Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen was a Norwegian track and field athlete, businessman, art collector, non-fiction writer, essayist, novelist, playwright and biographer. He was a friend of painter Edvard Munch from the 1920s, and came to be Munch's financial advisor. He was also a collector of his artwork, and had one of the largest private collections of Munch's works. In 1926 he organized an exhibition of his art collection, which centered around works by Munch and Ludvig Karsten. He wrote essays on artists such as Edvard Munch, Erik Harry Johannessen, Jakob Weidemann and Paul Klee. He published books on economy, including "Penger og tall" (1937). His début as a fiction writer was the short story collection "Godnatt da du" (1931). He donated his collection of Norwegian art to the municipality of Aker in 1936, from 1994 located in the Stenersen Museum in Oslo. His collection of foreign art was donated to the city of Bergen in 1971, and the exhibition was open to the public from 1978. He donated his home, the functionalist Villa Stenersen designed by Arne Korsmo, to the State of Norway as a home for the Prime Minister. Odvar Nordli lived in the house, but the building has later been used for cultural purposes. He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1953, and as a Commander in 1974. He received the St. Hallvard Medal in 1977.