[2] [3] After graduating from the Stavanger Cathedral School in 1923, he went to the University of Oslo to study medicine.

[4] During the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II, his involvement in the resistance movement led to his arrest.

Regular drug deliveries arrived from both the Norwegian and Swedish Red Cross organizations.

In 1948, he died at 43 years of age as a result of a heart attack and was buried at Vestre gravlund in Oslo.

A bust of Sven Oftedal was made by artist Per Palle Storm in 1950 and is located in Stavanger city center.