Erlend Loe worked at a psychiatric clinic, and was later a freelance journalist for Norwegian newspaper Adresseavisen. Loe now lives and works in Oslo where in 1998 he co-founded Screenwriters Oslo - an office community for screenwriters.

In 1993 he debuted with the book Tatt av kvinnen, and a year later published a children's book, Fisken, about a forklift operator named Kurt. Loe has a distinctive style of writing which is often likened to naïve art. He often uses irony, exaggeration and humor. His children's books are illustrated by Kim Hiorthøy. Loe has recorded many of his books as Norwegian audiobooks.

His popular novel Naiv. Super has been translated into 20 languages: Lithuanian, Latvian, Swedish, Finnish, Estonian, Danish, Icelandic, Dutch, Czech, German, Greek, Polish, Russian, Slovak, English, Italian, French, Portuguese, Serbian, Macedonian and Georgian.