Background
He was born in Dypvåg to ship-owner Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen (1865–1960) and Magdalena Pedersen (1873–1920).
He was born in Dypvåg to ship-owner Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen (1865–1960) and Magdalena Pedersen (1873–1920).
He had eight siblings. The family moved to Kristiania in 1902, and he joined the family"s company (John P Pedersen & Søn) after finishing Kristiania Commerce School in 1917. He died in January 1978 in Oslo.
Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen"s first national title came in 1913, and the last in 1927.
He played two matches for the national team He was also capped five times for the Norway national football team, the first in 1915.
He also competed in yacht racing. He had taken his first King"s Cup in Norway with that boat in 1930.
In the International Olympic Committee he took over for Thomas Fearnley, following tradition since 1905 that Norway must have one International Olympic Committee member at any time.
In shipping, he started his own company in 1936. From 1945 to 1949 he chaired the supervisory council of Det Norske Veritas. Ditlev-Simonsen was amongst a number of prominent Norwegians arrested as hostages by the Germans during their occupation of Norway.
Following his arrest he was transferred to Grini concentration camp on 13 January 1942 and given prisoner number 1274, being released on 21 September 1942.
Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen practised different sports in the club IF Ready, and, partly together with his four brothers, he won several Norwegian championships in bandy. At the 1936 Summer Olympics he won the silver medal as crew member of the Norwegian boat Silja in the 8 metre event. He was decorated with the King"s Medal of Merit in 1947 and was a Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (1952), the Order of the Lion of Finland, the Order of Vasa, the Order of the Polar Star, the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and the Order of Orange-Nassau. He was a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.
He was a board member of the Norwegian Tennis Federation from 1918 to 1919 and of the Football Association of Norway for four years, chaired IF Ready from 1923 to 1927 and the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club from 1947 to 1949. From 1948 to 1966 he was a member of the International Olympic Committee, and he headed the organizational committee at the 1952 Winter Olympics. He was a board member of the Norwegian Shipowners" Association for some time, and during the Second World War he worked in Sweden, from 1943 as regional head of Nortraship.
