Svein Karl Mønnesland (born 26 October 1943) is a Norwegian Slavist.
He was born in Skien.
Since 1979 he teaches as a professor of Slavic languages at the University of Oslo.
He is considered an expert in Serbo-Croatian (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian), and has written numerous books and articles on Serbo-Croatian, Slavic linguistics, literature and cultural history.
He has held a variety of positions, including that of the Nordic representative of the International Committee for Eastern Europe Research and on the Board of the Institute for Comparative Cultural Research.
He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.