John Carew

Vålerenga

Carew began his career with his local club Lørenskog, a minor club in the Akershus region. He was already considered a highly talented youngster and had gained some media attention before he was acquired by Vålerenga in 1997, and in the same year Carew was a part of the team that gained promotion to Tippeligaen and won the Norwegian Football Cup. During his two-year period at the club he played 58 matches and scored 30 goals, while his profile rose even more due to his combination of strength and goal-scoring ability.

Rosenborg

During the summer of 1999, Carew joined Norwegian football's most successful club of the past decade and Champions League mainstays Rosenborg in a deal worth 23 000 000 kroner.

Transfer moves around Europe

After a string of impressive displays in the Champions League, Carew moved to Spanish club Valencia in an €8.5 million transfer, where he managed to win the La Liga title once in 2002. Carew was also part of the Valencia side that lost on penalties in the 2001 UEFA Champions League Final to Bayern Munich, though he scored his own penalty attempt. His goals in the campaign were crucial, including a 75th-minute header in a 1–0 home win against Arsenal in the second leg of the quarter-final, which saw Valencia advance to the semi-final. In the 2002–03 Champions League campaign, Carew was once again responsible for Arsenal's exit from the competition. With Valencia needing a win in their final game of the second…

John Carew played 91 times for Norway, scoring 24 goals, and was part of their Euro 2000 squad. He made his full international debut on 18 November 1998, and was the first black player to represent Norway.

In 2014, Carew starred in his first feature film, a Canadian horror called Dead of Winter. His second film, a Norwegian-made thriller called Høvdinger, was released on 17 July 2015. In 2018, Carew starred in the successful Norwegian TV-series, Heimebane, playing as Michael Ellingsen, an aging star footballer for a local Norwegian club. In 2019, Carew played the role of Jungle Warrior in the Disney's dark fantasy adventure film, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil alongside Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning and Chiwetel Ejiofor. In 2023, Carew played the role of an early Spotify investor in the TV series The Playlist. As of 2025, Carew stars in Netflix’s Home for Christmas as Adrian, a love interest of chief protagonist Johanne.

Carew was born in Lørenskog, Norway to a Gambian Jola father and a Norwegian mother. John Carew has a son born in 2004 who lives with his mother in Norway. Carew is noted for being a practicing Christian and often makes donations to charity. He also contributes to organizations like Soccer Against Crime, MOT and Ungdom mot Vold (Youth Against Violence) and was awarded the Kniksen award as Kniksen of the year in both 2005 and 2007. Since joining Aston Villa, Carew is noted for visiting children in hospitals around Birmingham and supporting Villa's initiative to donate from the payroll towards hospital running costs. Carew's sister, Elisabeth Carew, is an R&B singer. In December 2010 Carew was a victim of fraud after he paid £100,000 for a Porsche Cayenne Gemballa which never arrived. In 2012 Carew was declared bankrupt following a petition by HM Revenue and Customs. The Bankruptcy Order was annulled on 4 July 2012.