A tall, strong and prolific goalscorer, Bierhoff was mostly renowned for his excellent abilities in the air, and as a target man, being able to deliver pin-point headers towards goal.

[2] He spent his early career playing for Bayer Uerdingen, Hamburger SV and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga where he had modest success.

He was subsequently signed by AC Milan in 1998, winning the Serie A title in his first season with the club, scoring 19 goals in the league and 21 in all competitions.

Bierhoff would come on as a substitute in the final against the Czech Republic with Germany 1-0 down, and scored both the equaliser and the golden goal in extra time to win the tournament.

[6][7] In an important qualification match on 20 August 1997, Germany trailed Northern Ireland, 0–1, with 20 minutes left when the manager of the national team, Berti Vogts, sent in Thomas Häßler and Oliver Bierhoff.

[10] He made his last appearance for his country on 30 June, when he was brought on during the second half of the 2002 FIFA World Cup final against Brazil, but was unable to help the Germans score in the 0–2 loss.

[11] A large and prolific striker, Bierhoff was a strong, physical, aggressive, and powerful player, who played mainly as a target man in the centre-forward role.

[2][12] Although he was not particularly skilful with his feet from a technical standpoint, or a particularly good ball-player, he possessed good movement inside the box as well as strong hold-up play, but he was known in particular for his excellent aerial ability; in addition to his height, strength, and elevation, he was able to execute headers with power and precision, having scored several critical goals with his head throughout his career, for both club and country, which led him to be regarded as one of the best players in the world with his head and as a specialist in the air.

[18] Bierhoff was a manager of the Germany national football team from 2004 until December 2017, a new position created as part of Jürgen Klinsmann's acceptance of the coaching job.