lit a candle 3h agoMy mom called me the second she saw it, she grew up skiing near Holmenkollen and said this man basically ran the place her whole childhood. I'd never heard of him before today but she was almost in tears describing some march he started in the 70s that she did every year with her dad. 84 years old, that's a whole life spent on one mountain.
Their story
Rolf Nyhus was a Norwegian sports administrator and international football referee who, over several decades, became so closely identified with the Holmenkollen ski arena in Oslo that he was known throughout Norwegian sport as the Kollen general. He died on 12 October 2026, aged 84. Nyhus was born on 9…
Rolf Nyhus was a Norwegian sports administrator and international football referee who, over several decades, became so closely identified with the Holmenkollen ski arena in Oslo that he was known throughout Norwegian sport as the Kollen general. He died on 12 October 2026, aged 84.
Nyhus was born on 9 July 1942 and lived most of his life in Nordstrand, in the south east of Oslo, where he represented and later chaired the local club Nordstrand IF. He went to work for the fruit and vegetable company Bama in 1963 and spent many years there as a sales manager.
On the football field he held a FIFA badge from 1969 to 1985. He refereed the 1971 Norwegian Cup final between Rosenborg and Fredrikstad at the age of 29, and abroad he took charge of qualifying matches for the 1974 and 1982 World Cups and for the 1972, 1976 and 1980 European Championships, as well as European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Cup ties. In all he refereed 102 international matches in 24 countries.
Nyhus joined the board of Skiforeningen, the Association for the Promotion of Skiing, in the 1970s and later served as its assistant secretary general. He started the Holmenkollmarsjen ski march in 1974, led the organisation of the 1982 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships at Holmenkollen and was central to later championships there, including the 1986 Biathlon World Championships and the 1987 Winter Deaflympics. He also worked on the bid that brought the 2011 Nordic World Ski Championships back to Oslo, and he championed the association's cabins in the forests of Oslomarka.
Beyond skiing he was vice president of the Football Association of Norway, a board member of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports and the Norwegian Olympic Committee, and leader of the Oslo sports district. As chairman of Oslo Idrettshaller he helped the city gain more sports halls, and in retirement he managed many of Skiforeningen's building and renovation projects. A keen skier himself, he collected twelve medals in the Birkebeinerrennet and also completed the Vasaloppet.
Skiforeningen announced his death on 12 October 2026. Its secretary general, Håvard S. Abrahamsen, said that for many people Rolf Nyhus was the personification of Holmenkollen, and that he had helped secure its place as a national arena and an internationally recognised venue. Nyhus was an honorary member of Skiforeningen, the Norwegian Confederation of Sports, the Norwegian Ski Federation and Nordstrand IF, and had received the Medal of St. Hallvard and the King's Medal of Merit in gold.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), Norwegian Wikipedia, Skiforeningen and VG/NTB. Wikipedia ↗
Photos
1Rolf Nyhus at the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo
by People Forever
the Holmenkollmarsjen, still happens every year, my family's done it too