Olav V
king of Norway (1957–1991)
Olav V (born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.
Olav was born on the royal Sandringham Estate in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norwegian throne when his father was elected King Haakon VII of Norway in 1905. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne to be brought up in Norway since Olav IV in the 14th century, and his parents made sure that he was given as Norwegian an upbringing as possible. In preparation for his future role, he attended both civilian and military schools. In 1929, he married his first cousin, Princess Märtha of Sweden. During World War II, his leadership was much appreciated, and he was appointed Norwegian Chief of Defence in 1944. Olav became king following the death of his father in 1957.
His considerate, down-to-earth style made Olav immensely popular, resulting in the nickname Folkekongen ('The People's King'). In a 2005 poll by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Olav was voted "Norwegian of the Century".
The public source identifies “Olav V” as king of Norway (1957–1991). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Olav, king and Norway.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q154912. VIAF identifies the subject as 267331259. The Library of Congress control number is n83120850. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1903, 1991, 1957 and 1905.
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This entry incorporates text from “Olav V” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.