Swedish Criminal Icon Clark Olofsson Passes Away at 78

One of Sweden's most infamous criminals, Clark Olofsson, has passed away. He died on June 24 after a period of illness at Arvika Hospital.

Clark Olofsson is one of Sweden's most written-about and well-known criminals. He died on June 24, aged 78, after a period of illness at Arvika Hospital, reports ETC.

Olofsson is best known for the Norrmalmstorg drama in 1973, where several people were held hostage for six days inside Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg following a failed robbery attempt.

At the time of the robbery, Olofsson was in prison, and the bank robber, Janne Olsson, demanded that Olofsson be brought to the bank.

Olofsson was convicted in the district court but later acquitted by the Svea Court of Appeal. According to him, he acted to protect the hostages, and the police quietly agreed to it.

Pia Gadd co-authored the book "Att aldrig gå loss: mekanismerna som gör fängelserna självförsörjande" with Clark Olofsson. She is a journalist, a former Expressen employee, and had a long friendship and close family relationship with Olofsson.

– We have been great friends since the first moment we met and have had a very remarkable friendship.

Although they hadn't seen each other for a few years, Pia Gadd had him in her thoughts, most recently in recent days.

– I was sitting the other day reading letters he sent. Oh, I can't quite gather my thoughts, especially since I thought so intensely about him yesterday, she says.

Criminologist Leif GW Persson has a different view on Olofsson's death.

– I will not miss him, he says.

Journalist Janne Josefsson tells P4 Göteborg that he grew up on the same street as Clark Olofsson.

– He was a charming guy. But he was criminal to the core, says Josefsson to P4.

Spent Half His Life in Prison

In total, Olofsson spent almost half of his adult life in prison and managed to escape several times. During his life, he was convicted of attempted murder, assault, and drug offenses.

Clark Olofsson grew up with a single mother and three siblings in Hisingen, Gothenburg. He went to sea when he was 15 years old.

He was released for the last time in 2018 after serving a nine-year prison sentence for serious drug offenses.

He became nationally known in 1966 when a police officer was shot dead during a burglary at a bicycle shop in Nyköping that Olofsson and a Gunnar Norgren carried out while Olofsson was on the run. Olofsson was sentenced to prison but managed to escape to the Canary Islands a few years later and was later arrested in an apartment in Frankfurt.

Another notable crime was the art heist at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 1993. The thieves entered through the roof and stole eight works. Clark Olofsson was an intermediary tasked with finding buyers for the stolen works, which had a combined value of half a billion kronor.

In the 90s, Olofsson became a Belgian citizen and renounced his Swedish citizenship. He was sentenced to life deportation from Sweden in 2009. During parts of his adult life, he went by the name Daniel Demuynck. In 2017, he regained his Swedish citizenship.

"I Am Satisfied"

In 2022, Netflix made a series about him, directed by Jonas Åkerlund. Olofsson was portrayed by Bill Skarsgård. The series is partly based on Olofsson's memoirs.

– I am satisfied. They had free hands, and I had to stay away. They didn't want me involved in the production, said Clark Olofsson to Expressen in connection with the premiere in 2022.

However, he had some comments on the truthfulness of the series.

– I would never have stolen jewelry from women I had just slept with, he told Expressen.

Expressen is seeking Clark Olofsson's family.