Ole Jacob Evenrud was born in Norway, November 17th, 1962. His
breakthrough as an artist came in 1983, and he soon became one of
Norway's most popular artists under the name "Ole-i-Dole". Releasing
five albums in as many years, he also saw some success abroad. His last
stint as an artist was warming up for Status Quo on Wembley Stadium in
December 1989.
Moving to Stockholm, he switched to songwriting and progressively
started producing albums for other artists. In 1993 he was hired by
Polygram Norway as Head of A&R, and eventually he would form his own
record studio, Hitsville. He ultimately left his safe Polygram spot in
'98, now being a full-time record producer. Lured by new possibilities;
In the turmoil following the Polygram and Universal unification, he
lead the A&R department at the new Universal until the new millennium
broke. Broken was also his ventures in the corporate world and he felt
it was time to set up shop for real.
With Hitsville now being the prime instrument for his involvement in
producing music, more time was spent on songwriting, negotiating deals
and in other ways consolidating his by now firm grip on the
Norwegian/Swedish music industry. He bought a former customs station by
a fjord on the border between Norway and Sweden, from which he molded
what is now Hitsville Production. Evenrud (or Evenrude as he calls
himself in English) had become a household name in the music business.
Through the years he played a leading role in the development of the
Swedish group A*Teens, and has also worked with bands like Ace of Base,
a-ha and Norwegian Idol contestants. In 2003 he was one of the judges
on the first ever Norwegian "Idol," a role he repeated in the show's
third season in 2005. The same year he finally gave into the demands of
his old fans, and released a CD with his greatest hits, entitled "Høy
og mørk" ("Tall and Dark," in real life he is blonde and short).
