Jotun’s story begins with its founder, Odd Gleditsch Sen. (left), in Sandefjord, a port town on Norway’s east coast. He started his working life at sea on his fathers ship, and had a stockbroking business during the First World War. In 1920, Odd opened a paint store, and by 1926 he was able to raise enough capital to purchase Jotun's first factory.

During World War Two, Norway was under German occupation. It was a huge challenge, both for Norway and for Jotun, as access to raw materials was restricted and production was low. There were a number of partisans who worked at Jotun, using the company’s warehouse to hide supplies, Jotun’s wharf in Sandefjord to ferry refugees to Sweden and Jotun trucks to transport radio transmitters.

Jotun opened its first overseas factory in Libya in 1962. The lessons learned – and money earned – in Libya put Jotun in a good position to seek other opportunities for further international expansion as it became increasingly clear that there was a market for Jotun products overseas.

Jotun Multicolor, a in-shop tinting machine launched in 1976, was the foundation of Jotun’s success in product innovation. The development of Jotun Multicolor also had a big impact on Jotun’s R&D department as Jotun devoted more resources to mastering colorant technology.

Jotun has continued to expand into new markets, and has kept a focus on innovation and R&D. In 2020, the revolutionary Jotun Hull Skating Solutions (pictured) was launched. Presenting a groundbreaking proactive hull cleaning approach. Jotun achieved all-time high sales and earnings in 2025 and enters its 100th anniversary year in better shape than ever.