When Ole Jacob Nygaard was born on 4 March 1877, in Norway, his father, Jacob Jorgensen Nygaard, was 32 and his mother, Elisabet Olsdr Fosbak, was 26. He married Elisif Paralie Jacobsen on 11 April 1897, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They were the parents of at least 4 sons. He lived in Ibestad Prestegjeld, Troms, Norway in 1877 and Yale County, British Columbia, Canada in 1911. He died on 31 January 1949, in Bella Coola 1, Central Coast, British Columbia, Canada, at the age of 71.