As the CEO of BII, Jens Nielsen builds strong international relations and ensures a clear working direction for the BII team. Jens is a professor at the Chalmers University of Technology and an adjunct professor at DTU and Copenhagen University, with a vast amount of life-science research experience.

He is an internationally respected scientist who has published more than 850 scientific articles that have been cited more than 110,000 times and with a current H-index of 155. He has received numerous awards, including the Novozymes Prize, the ENI Prize, the Eric and Sheila Samson Prime Ministers Prize for Innovation in Alternative Fuels for Transportation, Nature Award for Mentoring, the Emil Chr. Hansen Gold Medal, and the Gold Medal from the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. In 2019 he was honored as Knight, Ridder af Dannebrog (Order of Dannebrog), by Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark, for his meritorious service and contribution to science.

Jens Nielsen has been elected into several academies, including the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Royal Danish Academy of Science and Letters, the National Academy of Sciences (USA), the National Academy of Engineering (USA),the National Academy of Medicine (USA) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Jens Nielsen has several years of entrepreneurial expertise as the founder of biotech companies such as Fluxome A/S, MycoTeQ A/S, MetaboGen AB, Melt&Marble AB, Elypta AB, and Chrysea Inc.