Olaf Poulsen (27 July 1920 – 27 September 2008) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

sports official, best known for serving as the president of the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded in Scheveningen, N ...

from 1980 to 1994. Born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Poulsen was an active speed skater in his younger days. He represented the club

Oslo IL Oslo Idrettslag is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Oslo, with sections for swimming, speed skating, figure skating and athletics. History It was founded on 3 September 1893 as Kristiania Idrætsforening, partly on the ruins of the clubs ''Dovre ...

, and eventually became involved in the administration of that club.Obituary
from the

Norwegian Skating Association The Norwegian Skating Association ( no, Norges Skøyteforbund, NSF) is the main skating authoritative body in Norway. It oversees speed skating, figure skating, short track speed skating on ice, and more recently inline and roller skating. The Nor ...

He eventually became an honorary club member. He became a member of the board of the

in 1966, vice president in 1968 and president from 1969 to 1973. In the International Skating Union he was a board member from 1971, vice president from 1977 and president from 1980 to 1994. From 1992 to 1994 he was also a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. He retired after the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, held in his native country. He died on 27 September 2008. uprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/105051/1533-death-of-mr-olaf-poulsen.pdf INTERNATIONAL SKATING UNION Communication No. 1533/ref>

References

1920 births 2008 deaths Norwegian sports executives and administrators International Olympic Committee members Norwegian male speed skaters Sportspeople from Oslo International Skating Union presidents {{Norway-speed-skater-bio-stub