Jakob Axel Nielsen grew up in Hadsund in a family in which  his dad and granddad were lawyers; Nielsen went to law school at the University of Aarhus, and he worked as a lwwyer for eleven years until he went into politics.
Nielsen grew up in Hadsund (12 km from Terndrup) in the region of Himmerland. His father and grandfather were also lawyers whilst his mother was a teacher. He graduated from the Gymnasium (secondary school) in Hobro and was educated in law at the University of Aarhus; he worked as a lawyer from 1994 until 2005 when he was elected to the Folketing. He has been a member of the Folketing (Parliament of Denmark) from the 2005 to 2010 and was Minister of Traffic and of Energy in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen II from 12 September 2007 to 23 November 2007, and Minister for Health and Prevention from 23 November 2007 to 23 February 2010 in the Cabinet of Anders Fogh Rasmussen III and in the Lars Lkke Rasmussen I Cabinet. 
