Per Håkon Oftedal was born in Norway in 1987. He started to study the trumpet when he was eight years old in the local music school, continuing at the Firda Music Gymnasium at the age of 16. In 2007 he started his formal music studies at the Barratt Due Institute of Music and the Norwegian Academy of Music, studying with Arnulf Naur Nilsen, Jonas Haltia and Ole Edvard Antonsen. In October 2011 he moved to Cologne to continue his studies with Prof. Urban Agnas at the Hochschule für Musik Köln.
During his studies, Per has participated in several summer courses with the Nordic Youth Orchestra and Baltic Youth Philharmonic, with performances in such venues as the Konzerthaus Berlin and Mariinsky Hall, St. Petersburg. He is also a member of the Berlin-based International Mahler Orchestra, an ensemble consisting of some of Europe´s best musicians. This included a major tour throughout Germany in November 2011, playing a new version of Mahler´s 10th symphony.