 Ólafur played for IA Akranes and KR Reykjavík before joining Scottish side Hibernian from Keflavik in July 1997 for a fee of £200,000.He played 70 times for Hibs before joining Brentford on a free transfer in May 2000.He went on to play 73 league games for Brentford, at one point having to pay for his own goalkeeping coach.