Sten Swedlund passed studentexamen in Gothenburg in 1956 and was accepted in 1958 as an officer candidate at the Royal Swedish Naval Academy in Stockholm.

Swedlund was appointed commanding officer of the South Coast Naval Base and promoted to senior captain on 1 October 1987.

[2] SwedIund, before a temporally normal replacement as Commander-in-Chief of the Coastal Fleet, had been offered other tasks within the Swedish Armed Forces, but declined.

[19][18] After his retirement in 1994, Swedlund became involved in the international relief work of the Red Cross, stationed in Zagreb, Croatia from 1995 to 1997, in North Korea from 1997 to 1998 and then in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Swedlund also got involved in his hometown of Karlskrona and played an important role in the demilitarization of Stumholmen and the location of the Naval Museum there.

He was also a driving force in the Varvshistoriska föreningen ("Ship History Association") work to revive the Ropewalk at Lindholmen, built in the 1690s.

He was driving his car when, near the Admiralty Park, he suddenly crossed over to the wrong side of the road, according to the emergency services, probably because he passed out.