Mats Åke Olsson (born 12 January 1960) is a Swedish retired

handball goalkeeper The handball goalkeeper is the most defensive player of their team. Their main task is to prevent the other team from scoring a goal. Equipment To avoid confusion, a handball goalkeeper has to wear a jersey that is different in colour to all the ...

, who is currently goalkeeping coach for

Norway women's national handball team The Norway women's national handball team represents Norway at international handball competitions, and is governed by the Norges Håndballforbund (NHF). As of 2022, Norway has been in 24 finals and is regard ...

and

Elverum Håndball Elverum Håndball is a Norwegian handball club from Elverum, Norway. Currently, Elverum Håndball competes in the Norwegian Premier League Men's Handball, and they have been successful title winners for several years consecutively. The club was ...

. He was born in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

Player career

Olsson played 294 caps for Sweden between 1979 and 1997. He competed at 4 summer olympics and 6 World championships. Mats Olsson started his career at Dalhems IF in

. After that he played for

LUGI HF Lugi HF is a handball team from Lund, Sweden. Both the men's and women's teams play in the top division in 2021-22, Handbollsligan and Svensk handbollselit respectively. Sports Hall information *Name: – Sparbanken Skåne Arena *City: – ...

, one of the most prominent Swedish clubs at the time. As a professional player he represented Caja Cantabria in the Spanish elite league.

Olympics

In 1984, he was a member of the Swedish handball team which finished fifth in the Olympic tournament. He played three matches. Four years later he was part of the Swedish team which finished fifth again in the Olympic tournament of the 1988 Olympics. He played all six matches. At the 1992 Games he won the silver medal with the Swedish team. He played all seven matches. His last Olympic appearance was at the Atlanta Games in 1996 when he won his second silver medal with the Swedish team. He played six matches.

Coaching career

After his professional retirement he switched to a civilian career in the private sector before, once again, returning to Caja Cantabria, this time as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the club. In 2005, Olsson became manager for the

Portugal men's national handball team The Portuguese men's national handball team is governed by the Portuguese Handball Federation and competes in international competitions such as the European Men's Handball Championship and the IHF World Men's Handball Championship. They have par ...

. The same year he signed a three-year deal with the Norwegian handball association, as a head coach for the Norwegian women's goalkeepers. On 14 January 2018, Olsson was appointed as a member of the Commission of Coaching and Methods of

International Handball Federation The International Handball Federation (IHF) is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball. IHF is responsible for the organisation of handball's major international tournaments, notably the IHF World Men's Handball C ...

by the

IHF Council The IHF Council is an institution of International Handball Federation (the governing body of handball and beach handball). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of IHF Congress. Its members are elected by the IH ...

in its meeting held in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

(

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

) on the fringes of the

2018 European Men's Handball Championship The 2018 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the 13th edition and was hosted for the second time in Croatia from 12 to 28 January 2018. Croatia was awarded hosting the tournament during the EHF congress in Dublin on 20 September 201 ...

. He's been the goalkeeping coach for Swedish men's national handball team between 2014 and 2021. As of 2021 he is still goalkeeping coach for the Norwegian women's national team, and for Elverum Håndball.

Player clubs

* Dalhems IF *

* GD Teka *

Ystads IF Ystads IF is a handball club from Ystad, Sweden. They play in Handbollsligan. They won the Swedish Championship in 1976, 1992 and 2022. History Ystads IF was founded in 1908 and took up handball on the programme in 1929. In 1933–34, the clu ...

* Caja Cantabria

Coaching teams

* Caja Cantabria *

Sweden men's national handball team The Sweden men's national handball team ( sv, Sveriges herrlandslag i handboll) is controlled by the Swedish Handball Association. Its most successful periods were under coaches Curt Wadmark (1948–1967) and Bengt ...

Resume

* Caps/Goals: 294/2 (1979–1997) * World champion 1990 (in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) * European champion 1994 * World champion runner up 1997, in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

, Japan * Twice olympic silver medalist: Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) * 3rd place in the 1993 and 1995 World championships * Participated in four Summer Olympics: Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996)

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsson, Mats 1960 births Living people Swedish male handball players Liga ASOBAL players Olympic handball players of Sweden Handball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Handball coaches of international teams Olympic medalists in handball Lugi HF players Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Malmö