Olli Harder
Oliver "Olli" Harder (born 31 January 1986) is a New Zealand association football coach and former player. He is the head coach of West Ham United Women. He has previously coached in the US, China and Norway, and was head coach of Norwegian women's club Klepp IL from 2017 until 2019. Career. Harder played association football for two clubs in the New Zealand Football Championship as a goalkeeper. He has coached in the US, China, Norway and England. In the US, he coached Wilton Blue Under-11s in the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association league system, as well as  at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He worked for Club Football China, which aimed to develop young Chinese footballers. In 2017, Harder became head coach of Klepp IL women's football team. In the three seasons whilst he was in charge, they finished fourth, second and third respectively. Klepp's 2017 finish was the first time in 20 years that they had finished in the top four in the league. He was nominated for the Norwegian Coach of the Year award in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Harder achieved his UEFA A Licence. Harder left Klepp at the end  of the 2019 season, and in December 2019, he became assistant manager of the Sandnes Ulf men's team. In the 2020 season, Sandnes Ulf finished seventh in the 1. divisjon, and he left the role at the end of the 2020 season. He has also been an assistant manager of the Norway men's under-23 team. In December 2020, Harder was appointed head coach of West Ham United Women, on a two-and-a-half year contract. He replaced Matt Beard as head coach. Harder's first scheduled match in charge of West Ham against Manchester City was postponed  due to COVID-19 positive tests in the Manchester City squad. Personal life. Harder was born in New Zealand, and both his parents are German. He has a degree in sports science from Unitec Institute of Technology, and studied for one semester at Virginia Tech.