Elden graduated with a law degree from
the University of Oslo in 1991, received a lawyer's licence in 1993 and a right to appear before the
Supreme Court in 1999. He was chief financial officer of Norges Gymnasiastsamband and Operasjon Dagsverk from 1985 to 1987, a storting journalist for the Conservative Party from 1987 to 1988, consultant in the Student Welfare Organisation in Oslo in 1991, research assistant at the University of Oslo from 1991 to 1992 and associate with his father, lawyer John Elden, 1991–1993. John Christian Elden is a partner in Elden Law Firm established in 1993, permanent defender in
Oslo District Court from 2000 and permanent defender in
Borgarting Court of Appeal from 2000. He has also been project secretary at the
Council of Europe (FES) in
Paris. He participated in the US State Department IV Leadership Program in 2005. Elden won the award for lawyer of the year organized by
Finansavisen in 2014 for his work on the Røeggen case that was won against
DnB in the Supreme Court's grand chamber. He is a freemason. Elden was named Norway's foremost defense lawyer by
Dagbladet in 2001. He has been a defender in a number of high-profile criminal cases. He was the defense lawyer for
Erling Havnå. In 2022, Elden served as the lead defence lawyer for Zaniar Matapour, the perpetrator of the
Oslo shooting that left two people dead and 21 others injured. ==References==