The Most Famous
COACHES from Norway
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Norwegian Coaches of all time. This list of famous Norwegian Coaches is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Åge Hareide (b. 1953)
With an HPI of 52.44, Åge Hareide is the most famous Norwegian Coach. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages on wikipedia.
Åge Fridtjof Hareide (born 23 September 1953) is a Norwegian football coach and former player who manages the Iceland national team. In his playing career, he played for Hødd and Molde in Norway as well as Manchester City and Norwich City in England. Hareide was capped 50 times playing for Norway. As a coach, Hareide has won league titles in all of the Scandinavian countries, In Sweden with Helsingborgs IF in 1999 and with Malmö FF in 2014, in Denmark with Brøndby in 2001–02 and in his native Norway with Rosenborg in 2003. Hareide was in charge of the Norway national team from 2003 to 2008. While at Malmö during his first time in charge at the club, he notably took the team to the modern-day UEFA Champions League group stages for the first two times in the club's history. He coached the Denmark national team to a Round of 16 finish at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and was appointed coach of Iceland in 2023.
2. Egil Olsen (b. 1942)
With an HPI of 46.98, Egil Olsen is the 2nd most famous Norwegian Coach. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Egil Roger Olsen (born 22 April 1942), nicknamed Drillo, is a Norwegian former football manager and player. He is best known as a highly successful manager of the Norway national team. He later was manager of the Iraq national team, his departure from which caused considerable attention. In January 2009, he made a comeback as manager for the Norway national team.
3. Per-Mathias Høgmo (b. 1959)
With an HPI of 42.85, Per-Mathias Høgmo is the 3rd most famous Norwegian Coach. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Per-Mathias Høgmo (born 1 December 1959) is a Norwegian football manager and former player. He is the manager of J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds. He has previously been head coach of Norway women's national football team and the Tippeligaen sides Tromsø, Moss and Rosenborg. While being head coach of Tromsø he was working on a PhD in football at the university in Tromsø.
4. Kjetil Rekdal (b. 1968)
With an HPI of 42.70, Kjetil Rekdal is the 4th most famous Norwegian Coach. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He was most recently the manager of Eliteserien club Rosenborg. Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Belgian Pro League. Playing as a midfielder during his time as a player, his 83 caps with the Norway national team makes him the seventh most capped player in the team's history. Rekdal previously managed Vålerenga from 2000 to 2006, during which he won both the cup and league title. He has also been in charge of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Lierse and Aalesund. During his time at Aalesund, the club earned two cup titles and saw a period of success previously unmatched in their history, which was attributed to Rekdal.
5. Børge Lund (b. 1979)
With an HPI of 28.65, Børge Lund is the 5th most famous Norwegian Coach. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Børge Lund (born 13 March 1979) is a retired Norwegian handball player and current handball coach of Elverum. He played 216 matches and scored 390 goals for the Norway men's national handball team between 2000 and 2014. He participated at the 2005 and 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, as well in the 2011 World Men's Handball Championship and the 2012 and 2014 European Men's Handball Championship.
6. Daniel Berg Hestad (b. 1975)
With an HPI of 27.08, Daniel Berg Hestad is the 6th most famous Norwegian Coach. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Daniel Berg Hestad (born 30 July 1975) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player, who played as a central midfielder, most notably for Molde. He is the manager of Molde 2 and the Under-19 squad of Molde. With 666 official appearances, he is the player with most official matches for Molde. He currently holds the record for most matches in Eliteserien with 473. He is three time Norwegian league champion, and four times Norwegian Cup champion with Molde, being the joint most decorated player of the club with 7 trophies along with Etzaz Hussain. He retired from football after playing the Europa League round of 32 game against Sevilla which Molde won 1–0, 25 February 2016, in his 666th match for Molde.
People
Pantheon has 6 people classified as Norwegian coaches born between 1942 and 1979. Of these 6, 6 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Norwegian coaches include Åge Hareide, Egil Olsen, and Per-Mathias Høgmo. As of April 2024, 2 new Norwegian coaches have been added to Pantheon including Børge Lund, and Daniel Berg Hestad.
Living Norwegian Coaches
Go to all Rankings
Åge Hareide
1953 - Present
HPI: 52.44
Egil Olsen
1942 - Present
HPI: 46.98
Per-Mathias Høgmo
1959 - Present
HPI: 42.85
Kjetil Rekdal
1968 - Present
HPI: 42.70
Børge Lund
1979 - Present
HPI: 28.65
Daniel Berg Hestad
1975 - Present
HPI: 27.08
