At club level Egil Bjerklund played ice hockey for Hasle-Løren IL in addition to representing Norway in more than 50 matches during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1961 Bjerklund was awarded with the Gullpucken (“golden puck”) by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation after being named the best player of the year.
Bjerklund’s first Olympics were his home Games in Oslo in 1952 where the Norwegian team finished in ninth and last place. He played in all eight matches in the tournament, scoring three goals, including two in their 4–3 defeat to Poland. Bjerklund returned to the Olympics for the 1964 Innsbruck Games where Norway finished tenth out of the 16 teams that took part. He played in eight matches during the competition, scoring a single goal, again in a defeat to Poland. After the Innsbruck Olympics Bjerklund became the coach of the national team, leading them at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics, this time finishing in 11th place.