Born in Odense, Denmark, Jørgen Olsen arrived on March 15, 1950, while his brother Niels followed on April 13, 1954. As children the two began performing together, forming the band the Kids before they had even reached their teens. By 1965 the group had secured modest recognition, including an opening slot for the Kinks during the British band’s Danish dates, yet the Kids dissolved before the decade ended, leaving Jørgen and Niels to pursue separate directions.
In 1972 both brothers auditioned successfully for Denmark’s production of the musical Hair; Jørgen landed a principal part and sang on the cast recording. That exposure brought a recording contract, and later the same year the Olsens issued their debut album, Olsen, which became a major commercial success and established the siblings as national figures. Throughout the 1970s they continued releasing hit singles while also exploring more experimental material, and by 1977 they were performing as far away as Japan. Their commercial momentum carried into the 1980s, though activity slowed in the 1990s, interrupted only by Jørgen’s solo album and a period during which the brothers worked as educators.
They resurfaced in 1994 with Greatest & Latest, a set that combined earlier successes with new recordings. A career peak arrived in 2000 when Brødrene Olsen won the Eurovision Song Contest for Denmark with “Smuk Som et Stjerneskud,” also known as “Fly on the Wings of Love.” Capitalizing on the victory, they released the all-new Walk Right Back in 2001, another strong seller at home. Two collections of cover material followed: Songs in 2002 and More Songs in 2003, the latter accompanied by a bonus DVD. In 2005 the duo put out Our New Songs and made another Eurovision bid, though they failed to advance past the national qualifier. Their next studio album, Respect, appeared in 2008.
