Education
He competed at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, and finished in fourth, fifth and second place, respectively.
He competed at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics, and finished in fourth, fifth and second place, respectively.
Between 1954 and 1967 he played 205 international matches and scored 131 goals, which is the second-best scoring result, behind that of Sven Tumba. He was the best forward of the 1960 tournament and was selected to the all-star team at the 1962 World Championships. In 2002 he was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.
After retiring from competitions he worked as a product developer with Jofa, a Swedish manufacturer of sporting equipment.
He won the world title in 1957 and 1962, finishing second in 1963 and 1967 and third in 1958 and 1965. Nilsson won only one national title, in his last season (1969). Yet he was awarded the Goldpucken award in 1966 as the best Swedish player and the Rinkens riddare award in 1967 for sportsmanlike behavior, and was selected to the Swedish all-star team in 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965 and 1967. Nilsson also played association football with Djurgårdens IF, IK Göta and Karlstad BK, and won the naitonal title with Djurgårdens in 1959.
