Nils Severin Lynge Hansteen was born in 1855 in Mo i Rana, in the county of Nordland, Norway. He was the son of parrish priest Agathon Bartholomæus Hansteen and Aletta Schjelderup. In 1861 he moved from his birthplace, to Selbu where he lived until the age of 16. He started at a mechanical workshop in Trondheim to study engineering, but in 1873 he chose to switch his career path, moved to Kristiania, and studied at Knud Bergslien and Morten Müller's painting school. There he spent two winters and later traveled in the autumn of 1876 to Karlsruhe in Germany, where he became a disciple of  Hans Fredrik Gude. Gude led him into marine painting and was of great importance for his development.
    He took study trips to Munich from 1879–1881, and also to Italy in 1881. Later that same year he returned to Norway where he lived in Kristiania for most of his life, except for the years 1887–1892 when he resided in Copenhagen. In 1886 he married Mimmi Hoffeldt Rytterager and the following year he began training in copper engraving in Copenhagen. In 1888 the artist visited the Skagen artists' colony together with artists Otto Benzon and Thorvald Niss. He befriended the artist Michael Ancher who painted his portrait that same year. Hansteen was also friends with fellow Norwegian artists Christian Krohg, Erik Werinskiold, and Edvard Munch, all of whom painted his portrait as well.

    The artist was awarded a bronze medal at the World Expo in Paris 1889 and was made a Knight of the Order of St. Wladimir. In 1907 he participated in "Paintings by contemporary Norwegian Artists" at Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) in Indianapolis, IN.
    In principle, he was an outdoor painter, but did not manage to completely free himself from academic painting, which continued to characterize his art. His paintings were influenced by Gude in drawing, coloring and image building, despite the fact that he diligently conducted outdoor studies, especially by Kristianiafjorden. Christian Krohg, one of the foremost Norwegian painters of the day, regarded him as the one of the best artists who continued the tradition of Gude. Motifs of summers from forests and fields were taken by Hansteen from Eastern Norway, from the coast at Stavern and from Denmark. In later years he also painted winter pictures. First and foremost, he was a naval painter, often with a schooner in rough seas.

     Jappe Nilssen wrote at his memorial exhibition in 1913 that, "in his best works, and especially those from previous years, one will find a virile power and an incorruptible honesty. Hansteen’s erasures are meticulously executed and show him as a skilled draftsman.” Among his book illustrations are the illustrations for Hanna Winsnes, “Gamle Visestubber fra Barnekammeret” (Old Wise Stubs from the Children's Chamber, 1897). Here he had some rather original illustrations that broke with the style of the time. They were naively stylized, and had a relationship with the children's drawings of today.

     Along with participating in more than 40 group exhibitions, the artist held the following solo exhibitions:

• Copenhagen, annually from 1892 to 1902

• Oslo Art Association, 1902

• Magnusgården, Kristiania, 1910

• Tivoli, Kristiania, 1911

• Drammen's Art Association, 1912

• Commemorative exhibition at Blomqvist Kunsthandel in Oslo, 1913

    The artist is represented in the following public institutions:

• The National Museum in Oslo

• Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark)

• Trøndelag Art Gallery

• Drammens Kunstforening Permanent Gallery

• Bergen Picture Gallery

• The Norwegian Folkmuseum

• Oslo City Museum

• Lillehammer City's painting collection

• Skien Permanent Gallery

• Rana Museum

• Skagen Museum in Denmark

• Helge Væringsaasen's collection, Elverum