Olaf Tufte

Olaf Karl Tufte (27 April 1976 – 21 July 2026) was a Norwegian rower, firefighter and farmer. He was a seven-time Olympian, and as a single sculler he was twice the Olympic champion and twice the world champion. He was consistently selected to the Norwegian men's senior national rowing squad since 1996, including his selection as a 2020 Tokyo Olympian – where he made his seventh Olympic appearance, racing in the men's quadruple sculls.

Early rowing career Tufte started rowing at age 17, initially as a means to improve his handle on motor cross. He rowed from the Horten Roklubb in Horten, Vestfold on the Oslofjord. He quickly displayed an aptitude for the sport and one year later, in 1994, he debuted internationally for Norway, rowing a single scull at the 1994 Junior World Rowing Championships. He finished sixth. In 1995, he raced in a Norwegian U23 quad scull which took silver at the Nations Cup in Holland.

Representative rowing career Tufte's senior debut for Norway came at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He rowed in the men's coxless four which finished in overall eighth place.

Tufte rowed on without a break after Sydney 2000, taking to a single scull. He finished on the podium at all four World Rowing Cups of 2001 and then won his first world championship title with a gold medal row at the 2001 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne.

He placed fourth at the 2010 World Championships in New Zealand and sixth in 2011 in Slovenia. At that year's World Championships Tufte managed a fourth place behind his old rivals Synek, Drysdale, and the Lithuanian Mindaugas Griskonis. He was officially declared dead the following day, on 21 July, according to family members. He was 50 years old.

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