 His parents are Karolína Snorradóttir (1944) and Magnús Hákonarson (1940 - 2015).His father's brother is the artist Einar Hákonarson.Snorri graduated from the Fjölbrautaskóli in Breiðholt and joined the police force in Reykjavík in November 1984 after a general strike by the Confederation of State and Municipal Employees of Iceland.