The Dane certainly knows his stuff, which is not surprising as he has been involved in football nearly all his life.
Olsen was born in 1940 and had already secured a place on Danish side Vordingborg's books eight years later.
In 1970, he moved to another club, B 1901, and played the first of 102 games for his country at senior level.
His career soon took him from Denmark to Belgium, where he played for Cercle Brugge KV, Racing White and Anderlecht until the mid-1980s.
He saw out his late thirties as a central defender for Cologne in Germany and, at almost 40, represented Denmark for the final time in 1989.
A year later, Olsen returned to Denmark to begin his coaching career at Brondby before taking his coaching qualification in Germany in 1992.
A subsequent spell back at Cologne followed and then, in 1997, he made the big move to Dutch giants Ajax, who won the league title the next year.
After taking over from Johansson in 2000, Olsen put his experience as a player and coach into practice, launching a quiet revolution in the national set-up.
His key changes included bringing in national hero Michael Laudrup as assistant coach and replacing legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel with Thomas Sorensen.