Sölvi Ottesen

On 20 January 2025, he was announced as manager of Víkingur Reykjavík, taking over from Arnar Gunnlaugsson, having previously been his assistant manager at the club.

Early career

Born in Reykjavík, Sölvi started his career at Vikingur Reykjavík, where he came through the academy. After progressing the ranks of the youth team, he made his Vikingur Reykjavík debut as an 84th-minute substitute, in a 7–2 win over KS on 25 August 2001. Ottesen went on to make four appearances for the side at the end of the 2001 season. The following 2002 season saw his first team opportunities increased, making a total of ten appearances. The 2003 season saw Ottesen continuing to establish himself in the starting eleven for Vikingur Reykjavík. He went on to make eighteen appearances for the side at the end of the 2003 season. His performance saw him being named 1. deild karla's Team of the Year. Despite signing a three–year contract with for Vikingur Reykjavík, Ottesen was linked with a move away with the club, with Norwegian side Brann and Football League Second Division side Barnsley were interested in signing him. Despite suffering from an injury, Ottesen was a first team regular until July 2004, where he made eight appearances for the side. By the time he departed from the club, Ottesen made 32 appearances in the heart of defence for Vikingur between years 2001 and 2004, spurring interest from abroad.

Djurgården

Sölvi signed for Swedish side Djurgården on 10 July 2004, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the club. Upon joining the club, he said the move would help him develop. However, Ottesen suffered a setback when he suffered…

In August 2004, Ottesen was called up to the Iceland U21 squad for the first time He made his debut for the U21 side against Estonia U21, as Iceland U21 lost 2–1. Ottesen went on to make eleven appearances for the U21 side. On 29 September 2005, Ottesen was called up by Iceland for the first time. He made his first appearance against Poland on 7 October 2005, starting the whole game, in a 3–2 loss. After three years away from the national team, Ottesen was called up by Iceland once again and started the whole game, in a 1–0 win over Malta on 19 November 2008. In September 2010, he captained the national side on two occasions against Norway and Denmark. Ottesen captained the side two more times the following year and assisted two times, in a 5–3 loss against Portugal on 7 October 2011. However, in a match against Cyprus on 11 September 2012, Ottesen was sent off in the 86th minute for a professional foul, as Iceland lost 1–0. Following the match, he served a two match suspension. On 14 November 2012 Ottesen returned from suspension, starting the whole match, in a 2–0 win over Andorra. His latest appearances came a decade later against Latvia in October 2015 and Finland in January 2016. In November 2017, Ottesen announced his retirement from international football. He has been capped twenty-eight times for Iceland.

Ottesen was married to Sandra Karlsdóttir and together, they had three children. Ottesen revealed that one of his children has been diagnosed with autism. During his early football career, he worked full time at a liquor store. In April 2017, Ottesen purchased a mansion in Fossvogur and resided there since returning from China and Thailand.