At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo he won a silver medal in the relay.

[3] He also won a gold medal in the 20 km individual at the 1978 Biathlon World Championship.

[5] After that season, Lirhus took a gap year as an active biathlete to be a coach for the Canadian biathlon team, intending to return to biathlon and compete at the World Championships in Holmenkollen.

[6] From 2002 to 2005, Lirhus was the head coach for Norwegian women's biathlon team.

Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée has attributed much of her success at the 2004 World Championships to him.