Olli Harder

Oliver Harder[1] (born 31 January 1986[2]) is a New Zealand association football coach and former player who was most recently the manager of Norwegian team SK Brann Kvinner. He has previously coached in the United States, China and Norway, was head coach of Norwegian women's club Klepp IL from 2017 until 2019, and head coach of West Ham United Women from 2020 until 2022.

Olli Harder
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-01-31) 31 January 1986
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Managerial career
Years Team
2017–2019 Klepp IL women
2020–2022 West Ham United Women
2022–2023 SK Brann Kvinner

Playing career

Harder played association football for two clubs in the New Zealand Football Championship as a goalkeeper.[3]

Managerial career

Harder has coached in the United States, China, Norway and England.[4] In the United States, he coached in the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association league system.[5] He was an assistant coach in the American collegiate soccer system for the NJIT Highlanders and the Yale Bulldogs.[6][3] He worked for Club Football China.[3]

In 2017, Harder became head coach of Klepp IL women's football team. In the three seasons he was in charge, they finished fourth, second and third respectively.[4] Klepp's 2017 finish was the first time in 20 years that they had finished in the top four in the league.[7] He was nominated for the Norwegian Coach of the Year award in 2017 and 2018.[7] Harder left Klepp at the end of the 2019.[8]

In December 2019,[9] Harder became assistant manager of the Sandnes Ulf men's team.[7][9][10] In the 2020 season, Sandnes Ulf finished seventh in the 1. divisjon,[11] and he left the role at the end of the 2020 season.[1] He had also been an assistant manager of the Norwegian Women's under-23 National team.[10]

In December 2020, Harder was appointed head coach of West Ham United Women, on a two-and-a-half year contract.[10][11] He replaced Matt Beard as head coach.[12] Harder's first scheduled match in charge of West Ham against Manchester City was postponed due to COVID-19 positive tests in the Manchester City squad.[4] He led West Ham to sixth place in the 2021–22 FA WSL, with their highest ever points total in a season.[13] He resigned on 8 May 2022.[14] In 2022, Harder also achieved his UEFA Pro License.[15]

Harder returned to Norway in June 2022, being named as the new director of sports of SK Brann Kvinner.[16] When Brann manager Alexander Straus left for Bayern Munich women, Harder took over as manager in July 2022.[17][18] After winning both the 2022 Toppserien and the Norwegian Women's Cup, Harder mutually terminated his employment in May 2023; SK Brann were fourth in the league at the time.[19] In June 2023, Harder then joined the Norway men's under-21 team as an assistant manager for their matches against Scotland.[20][21]

Personal life

Harder was born in New Zealand to German parents.[5][11] He has a degree in sports science from Unitec Institute of Technology and studied for one semester at Virginia Tech.[3][11]

References
  1. "Oliver Harder ferdig i Sandnes Ulf". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). 20 December 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. "West Ham United women fall to defeat at clinical Manchester City". West Ham United Women. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. "Ollie Harder". Yale Bulldogs. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  4. "'If my father wasn't German, I'd be a rugby coach!' – Meet West Ham's 'unique' new manager". Goal. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  5. "Olli Harder hopes to bring wonders of world tour to West Ham in WSL". The Guardian. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. "Ollie Harder - Men's Soccer Coach". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics.
  7. "West Ham Women tempt Olli Harder from Norway to take manager's job". The Guardian. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  8. "Klepps suksesstrener Olli Harder gir seg". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 11 November 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  9. "Olli Harder er ansatt som Landros assistent i Sandnes Ulf". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 9 December 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  10. "Olli Harder: West Ham appoint New Zealander to take over WSL side". BBC Sport. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  11. "West Ham United women's team appoint Olli Harder as manager". West Ham United F.C. Women. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  12. "How West Ham Women manager Olli Harder is bringing his hard-working mentality to the club". Sky Sports. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  13. "Women's Super League: Paul Konchesky named West Ham manager as Olli Harder departs". BBC Sport. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  14. "Konchesky appointed women's manager, as Harder departs | West Ham United F.C." www.whufc.com.
  15. "Harder: - Vi har fått enorm støtte". Fotball.no (in Norwegian). 2 November 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  16. "Olli Harder blir ny trener for Brann-kvinnene". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). 8 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  17. "Her er kvinnelagets nye sportslige leder" (in Norwegian). SK Brann. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  18. "Harder tar over som hovedtrener" (in Norwegian). SK Brann. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  19. "Olli Harder fikk sparken, men kan bli værende i Brann". Ba.no (in Norwegian). 4 May 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  20. "U21-landslagets tropp til kamper mot Skottland". Fotball.no (in Norwegian). 5 June 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  21. "Fiabema scoret for U21-landslaget – ny uavgjort mot Skottland". NRK (in Norwegian). 18 June 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
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