He was the son of cathedral organist Carl Johan Bolander, who according to the bishop's main biographer was an extramarital son of King Charles XV of Sweden.[1] (Carl Johan Bolander was born 4 February 1854 in Bankeryd and died 28 July 1903 in Västerås.) Bolander served as pastor of Engelbrekt Parish in Stockholm and as dean in Lund. In 1958 he was elected as bishop of Lund, a post he held till his death a year later. Bolander was buried in Norra Cemetery in Lund.
Bolander was also a poet, hymn writer, and a member of Hedemoraparnassen. In 1927 he married Vera Silfverstolpe at Sura (divorced 1932), and in 1933 Bengta Ridderstedt at Stora Tuna Church.