Sverre Kolterud grew up on a farm in Nordre Land in a family of skiers. In addition to himself, three of his brothers won prizes in Holmenkollen. Sverre won a bronze medal in the 1928 Norwegian Junior Ski Jumping Championships, the same year as his five-year older brother Ole Kolterud competed in Nordic Combined at the St. Moritz Olympics. Sverre Kolterud’s international breakthrough was in 1931, when he earned a silver medal in Nordic combined at the World Championships behind Johan Grøttumsbråten. Three years later he won another World Championships silver medal, this time beaten by Oddbjørn Hagen. After coming fourth in the 1932 Olympics, Sverre Kolterud was also selected for the 1936 Olympic Combined team, but due to injury he had to watch the competitions from the stands.
He ended his skiing career as a professional, doing exhibitions in England and USA, sometimes together with the figure skating star Sonja Henie. He was also a stuntman in the Norwegian movie “Trysil-Knut” in 1942, doing the skiing scenes for the main character. He later worked in a sport shop in Oslo, and ended his working career in a bank in the Norwegian capital.