About Olav Stubberud

By the time he had finished elementary school and was starting junior high, he was travelling all over the world shooting snowboarding, while displaying a reflective range of styles. He quickly became known in the snowboard industry. At 17 he was nominated for Photographer of the Year, and at 19 he won Picture of the Year at the Norwegian Snowboard Awards, the youngest winner of the award ever. Two years later he won Video of the Year with his childhood crew, RK1, which made him the only one to hold awards in both video and photo, something that reflects his position and skill set today: doing both, at a large scale.

From a desire to expand and challenge himself, Olav began working with musicians and artists. He shot the first-ever press photos of Kygo, the start of his time as Kygo’s trusted photographer. He went on to become the first choice for some of the biggest names, not only in music and sport but in other fields as well. Today he is the one who gets called when history is being written, and, for Olav, photographed.

He believes in the long route, no shortcuts, honouring the old ways of doing it. It makes him a bridge between the present and the past.

Photography is only the beginning of his skill set and journey. Video was a natural progression; he explored the medium through a photographer’s eye, which resulted in a distinct style and led many clients to hire him for both video and photo.

He also signed as a model in Milan, Oslo, London and New York. Combined with his strong following, this led him to take on major partnerships, joining his photography with creative direction. He was nominated for Influencer of the Year at the Costume Magazine awards.

In 2021 Olav had his first-ever audition for a feature film, and booked it. He starred in The Worst Person in the World, which was nominated for two Oscars, in a supporting role to the lead, Renate Reinsve, who won Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival. After his first scene he also worked on set as the behind-the-scenes photographer for the second part of the film.

In 2014 he began his own personal work with his first solo exhibition, built on the concept “basic.”: a design world he continues to build, combining hype culture with art, and the analogue world with the digital age, with the message to “live free”. In 2021 he completed his biggest exhibition to date, a self-produced event that hosted 1,000 guests in an abandoned car wash he renovated himself, filled with fine-art photography, installations and fashion in a collaboration with Porsche, together with an immersive digital exhibition combining physical and digital art.

New mediums brought by a wave of technology drove Olav into a new chapter. In 2019 he began developing his digital persona: an avatar created to break physical boundaries and challenge himself in a new digital era. One of the most hyper-realistic avatars to date, it focuses on real-time interaction and bends the limits of what is possible with consumer technology, made together with Pinecone Tech and Rokoko.

An early adopter of web3 and an active voice and face in the scene, he was quickly pulled into the public light to speak and to lead newcomers into the space, and speaker panels across the country have requested him as one of the experts in the field. His background in art, music and fashion gives him a distinct voice in the digital wave formed by VR, AR, NFTs, AI and crypto.

His combination of knowledge and insight across culture and industries places him at the forefront of new waves and change. In recent years he has taken on consulting roles, helping brands, people and businesses grow and evolve. In 2026 his photobook of elite athletes, The Greatest, was funded on Kickstarter by 86 backers.