Jo Nesbø wrote the first episode as early as 2008 and the project, initially intended for the public broadcaster NRK, received 9.7 million Norwegian kroner from Norsk filminstitutt in April 2013 before disagreements led NRK to withdraw, with TV 2 taking over the project in October 2013.

With a budget of 90 million Norwegian kroner (approximately 8.4 million euros), Occupied is one of the most expensive Norwegian television productions ever made.

The series achieved considerable international success, being sold in numerous European countries (United Kingdom, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and broadcast by Netflix in several countries outside Europe.

The first broadcast in Norway was watched by 663,000 viewers, a record audience for a drama series on TV 2, although viewership subsequently declined sharply in the following episodes.

The Russian Ambassador to Norway, Viatcheslav Pavlovski, denounced the series to the TASS agency, arguing that it overlooked the heroic role of the Red Army in liberating the north of Norway occupied by the Nazis and that it sought to frighten Norwegians with a non-existent threat from the East.

French journalist Serge Halimi accused the series of conveying Russophobic stereotypes, highlighting a strong parallel between Russians and Nazis, while the producers defended themselves against wanting to designate a "villain" and explained that they were inspired by Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The offices of Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor at Fornebu, in the suburbs of Oslo, served as the set for the Norwegian government headquarters in the series.

A scene from season 2 showing Prime Minister Jesper Berg's return to Norway from France was filmed at the port of Le Havre, with Saint-Joseph Church visible in the background.