diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/osem.js b/app/assets/javascripts/osem.js
index 08c8e743..aede8208 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/osem.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/osem.js
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 $(function () {
 
+  /**
+   * Show the number of words in the biography text field when opening the
+   * profile edit page
+   */
+    $(document).ready(function(){
+        word_count($("#user_biography")[0], 'bio_length', 150);
+    });
+
+    /**
+    * Update the number of words in the biography text field every time the user
+    * releases a key on the keyboard
+     */
     $("#user_biography").bind('keyup', function() {
         word_count(this, 'bio_length', 150);
     } );
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 44c3e815..3586834e 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
             },
             presence: true
 
+  validate :biography_limit
+
   ##
   # Checkes if the user attended the event
   # This is used for events that require registration
@@ -192,4 +194,13 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
       self.is_admin = true
     end
   end
+
+  ##
+  # Check if biography has an allowed number of words. Used as validation.
+  #
+  def biography_limit
+    if self.biography.present?
+      errors.add(:biography, 'is limited to 150 words.') if self.biography.split.length > 150
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index fd14ddbb..88bada1f 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,29 @@ describe User do
     it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:email) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_presence_of(:username) }
     it { is_expected.to validate_uniqueness_of(:username) }
+
+    it 'biography can not have more than 150 words' do
+      # Text with 151 words
+      long_text = <<-EOS
+        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aenean
+        vestibulum, augue ut accumsan feugiat, mauris eros accumsan nunc,
+        volutpat vulputate eros orci quis nulla. Cum sociis natoque penatibus
+        et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Sed varius
+        orci ut lectus convallis, et ultrices ex finibus. Praesent orci augue,
+        aliquet at cursus at, placerat id ligula. Vestibulum a mauris non
+        felis pretium laoreet. Cras vel nisl convallis, pharetra ipsum at,
+        mattis erat. Praesent in lectus felis. Fusce eros mauris, euismod
+        lobortis metus id, tristique scelerisque nisl. Suspendisse potenti.
+        Suspendisse ac metus magna. Integer lobortis pharetra eros euismod
+        fringilla. Phasellus vitae orci vel magna laoreet mattis non eu neque.
+        Mauris ac dictum leo. Nullam dapibus convallis molestie. Integer
+        dignissim massa at odio feugiat tempus. Pellentesque ultrices rutrum
+        eros, a pellentesque lorem auctor in. Suspendisse sollicitudin dolor
+        vitae justo dignissim, a condimentum turpis molestie. Aenean
+        scelerisque, arcu eu congue mollis, nibh nulla finibus.
+      EOS
+      expect(build(:user, biography: long_text)).to_not be_valid
+    end
   end
 
   describe 'association' do