Oliver Rolf Kahn is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in the professional squad. In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich for the fee of DM 4.6 million, where he played until the end of his career in 2008. His commanding presence in goal and aggressive style earned him nicknames such as Der Titan  from the press and Vol-kahn-o ("volcano") from fans.

Kahn was born in Karlsruhe. He is partly of Latvian descent; his father Rolf was born in Liepāja in 1943, where he remains well-known, to a Latvian mother, Ērika Alksne, and a Baltic German father, also named Rolf. Rolf briefly played professionally for Karlsruher SC, as did his son Axel, Oliver Kahn's older brother.