Bjørndalen, grew up on a farm in Simostranda, Norway, where he became a skilled cross-country skier. He followed his older brother Dag into competition in the biathlon, a demanding sport that combines high-speed cross-country skiing with rifle marksmanship. At age 16 Bjørndalen left home and entered a sports academy in Geilo. In 1993, at the age of 19, Bjørndalen became the first biathlete ever to win a grand slam by winning all 3 possible gold medals on the Junior Biathlon World Championships. In his first season (1992/1993) he finished 62nd, the season after, 30th and the season after that, 4th. When winning the overall world cup in 1998, at the age of 24, he actually won all that is possible in biathlon in one season - world championships gold medal, Olympic gold medal and the overall world cup title. His World Cup podium record is 157 (more than 157 including the victory and the podiums in cross-country) podium finishes, 91 1st places, 44 2nd places, and 22 3rd places. He is the only biathlete ever to win all four biathlon events in a single Winter Olympics. These encompass the sprint, pursuit, individual, and relay events, the latter together with three other participants (The first mass start only began in the 2006 Winter Olympics).

Bjørndalen occasionally competes in cross country races, and has raced in World Championships before. During the off season in April, the Norwegian Skarverennet takes place, a 38km race in the mountains between Finse and Ustaoset. Bjørndalen has competed in this competition; in 2006 he won the race in a time of 1:31.25, one second ahead of Frode Andresen, and seven seconds ahead of third place Kristen Skjeldal. In 2007 he won the race again and in 2008 he finished on second place. For his accomplishments in biathlon and cross-country skiing, Bjørndalen received the Egebergs Ærespris in 2002.

He lives in the village of Toblach (Dobbiaco) in Italy and Obertilliach in Austria with his wife, Italian-Belgian biathlete Nathalie Santer, whom he married on 27 May 2006. According to his wife, Nathalie Santer, and himself, as long as he is healthy and has the energy and motivation, he will race until 2014. He has said his target is to win nine Olympic gold medals, if he chooses to follow the current plan, retires after the 2014 Games in Sochi. Bjørndalens 91 Biathlon World Cup victories and 1 Cross Country victory is twenty-nine ahead of Annemarie Moser-Pröll and he is now ahead of Ingemar Stenmarks former record of 86 World Cup victories.

Author: SABINA TAGORE IMMANUEL