Born in
Oskarshamn, he played for local club
IFK Oskarshamn before moving to Swedish giants
IFK Göteborg, where he won the
1981–82 UEFA Cup. After a short stint with the
Toronto Blizzard, he ended his playing career at
Örgryte IS. He was capped 5 times for
Sweden. He began his coaching career at
Örgryte IS, first as an assistant-coach, then as first-team coach. He also managed
Landskrona BoIS (which he got promoted to
Allsvenskan in 1993),
HamKam,
FK Haugesund,
Kalmar FF,
Assyriska Föreningen,
Trelleborgs FF,
Sarpsborg 08 FF and
Helsingborgs IF. After winning
Allsvenskan with Helsingborgs IF in
2011, Karlsson decided to withdraw as head coach on 14 June 2012 and was replaced by
Åge Hareide. ==Personal life==