He started his career with Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, before turning professional and playing 22 games for Italian club SPAL 1907 during the 1951–52 Serie A season.

[1] He played 18 games for the Denmark national football team from 1947 to 1951,[2] with whom he won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

Ørnvold was a quick player with good anticipation of the game.

He did surprisingly well, but was physically over-matched by forwards Gunnar Nordahl and Garvis Carlsson in the semi-final against the Sweden men's national football team.

This biographical article related to association football in Denmark, about a midfielder, is a stub.