Trygve Nilsen (26 August 1893 – 5 October 1973) was a Norwegian civil servant and politician for the Labour Party.
He was born in Kristiania, and was a mason by occupation. He was a member of Oslo city council from 1926 to 1940, serving as Mayor from 1935 to 1936 and 1936 to 1940. He was then the chief administrative officer of housing from 1940 to 1959.
Nilsen was central in the work of the social housing construction in Oslo in the interwar period, and has often been described as the father of OBOS. as chief administrative officer of housing, he was considered a man of action.