Morten Olsen (handballer)

For The Danish soccer coach, see Morten Olsen.

Morten Olsen
Olsen attempts a goal against Yann Genty in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Morten Toft Olsen
Born	(1984-10-11) 11 October 1984 (age 40) Osted, Denmark
Nationality	Danish
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
Number	34
Senior clubs
Years	Team
2003–2005	GOG Gudme
2005–2006	HF Mors
2006–2007	Viborg HK
2007–2010	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
2010–2013	TSV Hannover-Burgdorf
2013–2015	Saint-Raphaël Var
2015	Al Rayyan SC
2015–2020	TSV Hannover-Burgdorf
2020–11/2023	GOG Håndbold
12/2023–	Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2021	Denmark	118	(217)
Medal record Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team 2020 Tokyo Team World Championship 2019 Germany/Denmark 2021 Egypt Junior World Championship 2005 Hungary

Morten Toft Olsen (born 11 October 1984) is a Danish handballer for Bjerringbro-Silkeborg. ^[1]

At youth levels he started playing as a wing player, but transitioned to play as a playmaker in his senior years.

Playing Career

Olsen started his career at GOG Gudme, where he played from 2003 to 2005. ^[2] He then joined HF Mors where he played for a single season, where he played together with his twin brother, Kenneth Olsen. ^[3] In January 2006 he won sold to Viborg HK. ^[2]

In the summer of 2007 he joined League rivals Bjerringbro-Silkeborg. ^[4]

In 2010 he joined Bundesliga team TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, where he played until 2013. ^[5] He then joined French team Saint-Raphaël Var Handball. In 2015 he was released early from his contract with the club to rejoin TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. ^[6] He has rejoined TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 1 July 2015 after a short-term contract with Al Rayyan SC. ^{[7] [8] [9]} In 2020 he returned to Denmark to rejoin GOG Håndbold. ^[10] In September the same year he won the Danish Cup for a second time. ^[11] In 2022 he won the Danish championship, and the 2023 he won the double.

At the end of the 2022-23 season he announced his retirement from handball and that he intended to become the assistant coach at TMS Ringsted. ^[12] He did however quickly reconsider and continued as a player at GOG. ^[13] In November 2023 he fell out of favour of the GOG coach and left the team due to 'lack of mutual trust'. ^{[14] [15]} A few days later he signed for Bjerringbro-Silkeborg until 2025. ^[16] In April 2025 he announced his intention to retire after the 2024-25 season. ^[17]

National team

In 2005 he won the U-21 World Championship. His twin brother Kenneth was also on the team. ^{[18] [8]}

He debuted for the Danish national team in 2006, but it would take almost a decade before he became a part of the national team setup on a permanent basis, and even then he often acted as backup. ^[19]

At the 2016 Olympics he won gold medals with the Danish team; the first ever Olympic gold medal for the Danish men's team. ^[20]

In 2019 he won the 2019 World Championship with the Danish team; the first time ever that Denmark won the title. ^[21] In 2021 he defended the title at the 2021 World Championship. ^[22]

In 2021 he announced his retirement from the national team in order to spend more time with his family. ^[19]

Personal life

His twin brother, Kenneth Olsen, is also a handball player. ^[3]

References

1. EHF profile
2. "HF Mors sælger Morten Olsen til Viborg HK". xn--hndbold-exa.dk (in Danish). Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
3. Hans Krabbe. "Tvillingebrødre genforenes i HF Mors" (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
4. "Lars Krogh Jeppesen wechselt nach Bjerringbro-Silkeborg" (in German). handball-world.com. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
5. "Morten Olsen verlässt TSV Hannover-Burgdorf" (in German). Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. 23 November 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
6. "Morten Olsen quitte Saint-Raphaël!" (in French). Ligue Nationale de Handball. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
7. "Morten Olsen returns to Hannover" (in German). sport1.de. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
8. "2005 IHF Men's Junior World Championship" (PDF). IHF . Retrieved 5 September 2005.
9. "Statistic Men's National Team. Team Roster, Denmark". DHF . Retrieved 16 May 2015.
10. "Wechsel perfekt: Morten Olsen bei GOG Gudme offiziell vorgestellt" (in German). handball-world.news. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
11. "GOG er pokalmester efter tæt finale". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2 Danmark . Retrieved 28 September 2020.
12. "Morten Olsen stopper karrieren og bliver træner". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2 Danmark . Retrieved 13 April 2022.
13. "Udsætter karrierestop og udløser historisk transfer". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2 Danmark . Retrieved 6 April 2023.
14. "Morten Olsen stopper i GOG" (in Danish). GOG Håndbold. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
15. "Tilliden er brudt: Morten Olsen stopper øjeblikkeligt i GOG" (in Danish). Politiken. 30 November 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2025.
16. "MORTEN OLSEN VENDER TILBAGE TIL BJERRINGBRO-SILKEBORG HÅNDBOLD" (in Danish). Bjerringbro-Silkeborg. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
17. Jacob Qvirin Petersen; Rasmus Skannerup Kleis. "Morten Olsen stopper karrieren". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2 Danmark.
18. Hbold.dk spillerprofil Morten Olsen
19. 1 2 "Morten Olsen stopper på landsholdet". Sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
20. Bo Bentsen (21 August 2016). "Danmark slår Frankrig i OL-finalen og vinder historisk guld". sport.tv2.dk (in Danish). TV2 Danmark . Retrieved 12 March 2025.
21. "Flawless Denmark claim first world title". ihf.info. International Handball Federation. 27 January 2019.
22. "Danmark er verdensmester - igen!" (in Danish). Team Danmark. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

External links

• Morten Olsen at the European Handball Federation
• Morten Olsen at the Ligue Nationale de Handball (in French)
• Morten Olsen at Handball-Bundesliga (in German)
• Morten Olsen at Olympedia