After he had finished his education in the Norwegian Army, Crown Prince Olav went to England in 1924 where he had been accepted to Balliol College at Oxford University. He studied social economy, newer political history and international law for two years and obtained a “Diploma in Economics and Political Science.”
During his two years at the college, Olav rowed on an eight-man team for Balliol; he played Rugby; he was a member of the ski-team and he took part in fencing.
After his years at Oxford, Olav focused on sailing and official duties. He was rewarded for his hard work in sailing when he was part of a crew that won a gold medal in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam. But Olav returned home with something even better than a gold medal from Amsterdam.
Princess Märtha of Sweden had also been in Amsterdam during the Olympics. And, on one of the evenings the two of them walked all over the city, along the channels, discussing their feelings and a possible future together. It was a successful courtship and Olav returned home secretly engaged to a Swedish princess.
The secret engagement lasted until January 14th, 1929, when it was publicly announced in Stockholm. Olav had taken the morning train from Oslo the previous day, travelling incognito as Olav Haakonsen.
The Crown Prince and his princess were wed in Oslo on March 21st, 1929. One of the wedding presents was the estate of Skaugum, just outside Oslo, and that was where they settled down after they returned from their honeymoon to the south of Europe..
Unfortunately, the main building at Skaugum burned down just after they had finished the final renovations. The family of two, almost three, moved into the Palace, where their first child, Princess Ragnhild was born not long after the move. And while they waited for the house to be rebuilt, they also welcomed a second daughter, Princess Astrid, into the family.
After they moved back into the new building in 1932 life settled down. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess began to gradually take on more official duties as both the King and Queen were getting older.
But their children all say that it didn’t feel like their parents were away at all, they were always there tucking them in at night, and being there for them. When Crown Prince Olav was responsible for their bathing, he just took them and lumped them all into the tub, with their clothes on as both children and clothes had to be washed.
In 1937 a new heir to the throne was born, and with Prince Harald the family was complete.
Crown Prince Olav enjoyed spending time with his children. Before the war, he took the two girls sailing and taught them to swim in the summers and he taught them to skate and to ski in the winters. But the war interrupted their lives and prevented Olav from enjoying these activities with Harald.
In 1939 Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Märtha visited the United States, and the Norwegians who had emigrated there. They visited President Roosevelt, and a friendship developed between the President and the Norwegian Royals, a friendship that would prove very useful a year later when the Germans invaded Norway.