Background
He was born as Ole Skavlan in Stranda as a son of vicar and politician Aage Schavland (1806–1876) and his wife Gerhardine Pauline Bergh (1817–1884).
He was born as Ole Skavlan in Stranda as a son of vicar and politician Aage Schavland (1806–1876) and his wife Gerhardine Pauline Bergh (1817–1884).
He debuted as a fiction writer as a student. In 1871 he took the doctorate on the thesis Holberg som Komedieforfatter, about Ludvig Holberg as a comedy writer In the periodical Nyt norsk Tidsskrift he published a study of Henrik Wergeland"s work Skabelsen, Mennesket og Messias.
This contributed to an understanding of Wergeland as a liberal political figure, not following the politically conservative tradition that branded Wergelenad as an apolitical wordsmith.
Skavlan was appointed as a professor at the Royal Frederick University in 1877. He also co-founded and edited the satirical magazine Vikingen, and published the periodical Nyt tidsskrift, between 1882 and 1887 and together with Ernst Sars.
Skavlan died in May 1891 in Kristiania.