In 1932, he played with Jacques Alban and was praised by critics as the best saxophonist in Germany, dubbed the European Benny Goodman.

[1] Throughout the 1930s, he played with Dutch bands including those with Melle Weersma, Jack Hylton, Marek Weber and John Ouwerx, played with the German band Goldene Sieben, and also worked with Kurt Engel, Coleman Hawkins (1936), Kurt Hohenberger, Juan Llosas, and Teddy Stauffer (1939).

He continued playing regularly in the 1940s, both with his own ensembles and as a sideman for Philippe Brun, Eddie Brunner, Willie Lewis, and Hazy Osterwald.

He later set up his own band with former members of Stauffer's orchestra, from its rhythm section: Buddy Bertinat (piano), Gene Favre (bass) and Polly Guggisberg (drums).

Höllerhagen suffered from depression as well as medical problems including a heart attack, nerve inflammation, and partial facial paralysis.