Magnus Wiik is an insatiable musician. Originally a guitarist, he became obsessed with jazz piano in high school. He studied as a guitarist at the renowned jazz conservatory in Trondheim as well as doing a masters in improvised music at NMH in Oslo. Parallell to jazz studies, his growing interest in Irish and American folk music led him to getting deep into practicing banjo, fiddle, mandolin, dobro, cello, Irish flute, pedal-steel guitar and double bass.

His personal work include the trio Open String Department, which he has spearheaded since 2012. The trio has been hailed for taking an innovative and unique approach to blending bluegrass and jazz. He is a member of Tellef Kvifte's new quartet Tellefs, an innovative yet traditional outfit that use traditional material from both Ireland and Norway. He has worked for many years with the American fiddler Meade Richter, resulting in four albums under the moniker Haley's Comet. He has released four critically acclaimed solo albums to date, the latest being Misfits from 2023. And he thrives working in smaller settings with many collaborators, in recent years notably collaborators hardanger fiddler Laura Ellestad, Irish musicians Bríd Harper and Tony O'Connell, bluegrass musicians Rick Hauchman and Ondra Kozak, and Indian singer and harmonium player Tejaswinnee Kelkar to name a few.

Wiik has toured in more than 30 countries spanning four continents, and recorded for BBC, RTE and NRK. An award-winning musician, his production spans upwards to twenty releases as a leader, and he is in demand for studio work on a host of instruments. When not travelling, he divides his time between Oslo and Rauland in Norway, the latter being a small mountain village three hours west from Oslo. In Rauland he spends his time composing and recording in his home studio, and as part of being affiliated with the folk music studies at USN Rauland, he is currently digging deep in Norwegian traditional music, learning Hardanger fiddle and jews harp.