Ole-Kristian Tollefsen was born on March 29th, 1984 in Oslo, Norway. The third round, 65th overall selection of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Tollefsen honed his skills in the WHL with Lillehammer of the Norwegian hockey league.
In his first two season of North American hockey the 6'2 defenseman appeared in 96 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL recording 50 points. Tollefsen made his professional hockey debut with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL and became a mainstay with the club throughout the 2004-05 season. The following season with Syracuse, Tollefsen was used in 5 games by the parent club Columbus Blue Jackets.
On the international stage, Tollefsen represented Norway at the 2001-02 World Junior Championships.
In the summer of 2009, after appearing in only 19 games for Columbus the previous season, the rugged defenseman signed on with a team synonymous with tough hockey, The Philadelphia Flyers. His time in orange and black would be short-lived however. On February 6, 2010 he was shipped to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for winger Ville Leino.
