Olav V (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈûːlɑːv dɛn ˈfɛ̂mtə];[1] born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.

Olav was born at Sandringham House in England, the only child of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of Wales.

Owing to his considerate, down-to-earth style, Olav was immensely popular, resulting in the nickname Folkekongen ('The People's King').

[2] Olav was born as Prince Alexander Edward Christian Frederik in Appleton House on the royal Sandringham Estate, Flitcham, United Kingdom.

[3] His parents were Prince Carl, second son of Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (later King Frederick VIII), and Princess Maud, youngest daughter of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who was the eldest son of Britain's Queen Victoria.

Unlike his father, who was a naval officer, Olav chose to complete his main military education in the army.

He won a gold medal in sailing at the 1928 Summer Olympics[8] in Amsterdam and remained an active sailor into old age.

On 21 March 1929 in Oslo, he married his first cousin Princess Märtha of Sweden with whom he had two daughters, Ragnhild and Astrid and one son, Harald.

As exiles during World War II, Crown Princess Märtha and the royal children lived in Washington, D.C., where she struck up a close friendship with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The British Film Institute houses an early film, made in 1913, in which a miniature car (a "baby Cadillac") commissioned by Queen Alexandra for Crown Prince Olav tows a procession of Londoners through the streets of the capital, before being delivered to a pair of "royal testers" of roughly Olav's age.

[9] The car is a battery-powered, one-third size replica on a four-foot wheelbase, and is on permanent loan to the Norsk Teknisk Museum in Oslo.

[7] During World War II, Olav stood by his father's side in resisting the German occupation of Norway.

One source states that Olav helped "to build and lead a free fighting force" and made radio broadcasts while in England.

The King represented Norway extensively abroad during his reign, conducting state visits to both neighbouring countries and more distant destinations such as Ethiopia and Iran.

At the age of 87, on 17 January 1991, while residing in the Royal Lodge Kongsseteren in Oslo, he became ill and died in the evening of a heart attack.

Olav's son succeeded him as King Harald V. On the night of his death and for several days up until the state funeral, Norwegians mourned publicly, lighting hundreds of thousands of candles in the courtyard outside the Royal Palace in Oslo, with letters and cards placed amongst them.

During the funeral procession from the Royal Palace to Oslo Cathedral, over 100,000 people lined up along Karl Johans gate to pay their respects.

[16] Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland gave the eulogy at the funeral, before the casket was moved to Akershus Fortress where a private service was held.

[18] King Olav's leadership during the Second World War made him a symbol of Norwegian independence and national unity.

[2] Viktor Andersen portrayed the two-year-old Prince Alexander (Olav) in the 2009 NRK drama series Harry & Charles.