Nicolaisen previously held the post of Executive Director of Norges Bank's General Secretariat. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of Norges Bank Monetary Policy. Nicolaisen joined the staff of Norges Bank in 1995. He has a graduate degree in economics (Cand. oecon) from the University of Oslo and has also held posts at the Ministry of Finance, the OECD and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Nicolaisen will take up his post on 1 April 2014.