Born in a small town in Northern Sweden, for a long time Jens Widerberg’s ambition was to become Sweden’s slalom champion.
Coming in as the constant number two after his team mate, at age 17 he persuaded his parents to move south where he soon met one of his great loves in life; windsurfing. Today he is Sweden’s fastest kite surfer, and among a handful fastest in the world, and has found another big passion in life – to create and design unique products that are innovative and functional from the inside out. Since 1997 he runs the Swedish design company Formverket, a creative shop specialized in industrial design, construction and production. The minimalistic yet functional Scandinavian design is a trademark of Jens – whose designs are sustainable for the eye as well as the environment – and can be found both under his own brand and under other design company brands, such as IKEA. When Jens isn’t spending time with his big family of six, with kids from the age of 11 to 22, he is rebuilding an old water cleaning facility from the 1930’s into the new family home, or giving lectures in creativity as a well-renowned speaker, frequently engaged by Sweden’s largest companies. Or for that matter attending to his other company Borgen; an activity center for conferences, kickoffs and organizational development. Think he works around the clock? Try calling him before 10.00 in the morning and you will soon think otherwise.