Jonas Karlsson was born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States with his family at age 11, initially to the suburbs of St. Louis, MO with a subsequent move to the Bay Area, CA at age 16. There he finished high school and obtained an undergraduate degree from University of California at Berkeley. Initial interests in teaching and biotech research transitioned into a decision to pursue a career as a surgeon, and he started medical school 6 years after graduating college. His MD was obtained from Ross University, with the basic science instruction occurring in the Caribbean island of Dominica, and clinical clerkships in diverse locations across the US, including Miami, Queens, Brooklyn, Cape Cod, Chicago, and Bakersfield. 

He matched into an internship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, with the remainder of his residency in General Surgery completed at University of Illinois at Chicago. There he found a deep passion for trauma surgery, and continued his training with a fellowship at Vanderbilt University. Following completion of his fellowship, he joined the trauma group at Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville, NC where he currently serves as Associate Trauma Medical Director. 

While in Chicago, he met his wife Lauren. They have two sons, Jackson and Logan and enjoy all the benefits of living in Asheville.