The Odlo Brand
The ODLO brand was created in 1946 by the Cross-country Skiing Champion of the canton of Oslo in 1933, Odd Roar Lofterød Senior, who ran the company until 1979. His lifelong motto was "Always one step ahead!", both in sport and in life.
The founder of the Odlo brand: Odd Roar Lofterød (senior)
Born in 1915, Odd Roar Lofterød always had plenty of imagination and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. In the difficult times of war and unemployment, he posted an advert to find a job ("Worker seeks job for 100 crowns") instead of waiting to be hired. He was then offered a post in a clothing machinery factory paying 60 crowns a month, where he acquired the technical skills that enabled him to create ODLO FABRIKKER A/S in 1946, never for an instant doubting his future success.
In 1947, when raw materials were hard to obtain, he began to manufacture women's lingerie. He also set his creative spirit to work. To protect his son from the cold during speed skating training sessions, Odd Roar designed some trousers in Helanca (nylon), which became a big success with his team mates and other athletes.
The key stages in brand development
1963: launch of the first functional stretch ski suit in Helanca, a revolutionary synthetic fibre for cross-country skiers and speed-skaters, worn by the members of the Norwegian national team who won several gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck in 1964. In 1972, over twenty national teams wore ODLO sportswear - and in those days they had to pay for the outfits themselves!
1973: introduction of ODLO TERMIC, the first fully synthetic sports underwear.
1979: Odd Roar Junior, the son of the founder, who had the same entrepreneurial spirit and creativity as his father, took over the running of the company.
1986: change of strategy within the company. Odd Roar, with his two partners Victor Villiger and Didi Serena, focused on globalization of marketing and production, establishing the company ODLO International Ag with its headquarters near Zoug in Switzerland.
1987: launch of the ATHLETIC CLOTHING SYSTEM, based on the principle of overlapping layers of clothes: the underwear draws off the perspiration generated by action, while the intermediate and outer layers protect the body from wind and climatic conditions. Odlo was a huge success with cross-country skiers and the company decided to extend this principle of 3 layers to its summer ranges: RUNNING, CYCLING and OUTDOOR.
1999: ODLO adopted a new motto, "ODLO - Go Global", with numerous affiliates across the world and a 370-strong workforce.
2000: the brands Bjørn Dæhlie® and Kjus System Skiwear joined the ODLO Sports Group. The Group's new strategy is to draw on the experience of leading sportsmen such as Bjørn Dæhlie and Lasse Kjus to design innovative products.