The 40-year-old will assume the role on June 1, replacing Ole Morten Iversen.

Svarstad previously helped coach the elite women's national team from 2016 to 2018, when Roar Hjelmeset was the head coach.

Since then he has been a teacher and coach at Stryn Vidaregåande Skule, which recruits biathletes from across Norway.

"After an extensive recruitment round from a large number of applicants, we are very pleased to have landed an agreement with Sjur Ole Svarstad," Norwegian Ski Federation cross-country manager Espen Bjervig said.

"Now the work continues to find Sjur Ole's coaching colleague, and he is naturally involved in the dialogue in that hiring process."

Svarstad is due to be taking over a much-changed team, following the retirements of Therese Johaug and Maiken Caspersen Falla.

Johaug won three gold medals at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, having missed Pyeongchang 2018 through a doping ban.

However, Johaug's individual medals in the 10 kilometres classic, 15km skiathlon and 30km freestyle were the only ones won by the Norwegian women's cross-country team at the Olympics this year.

Norway's team was depleted by a COVID-19 outbreak, while two-time Olympic champion Ingvild Flugstad Østberg being denied a place in the squad on health grounds also impacted preparations.