Hans Ehrlin grew up in a family that had worked in the furniture industry of Småland for generations. Ehrlin moved to Stockholm and studied interior architecture and furniture design at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design from 1959 to -63.
In 1961 Ehrlin made his debut with a collection of furniture in curly and bright birch manufactured by the family company Alfred Ehrlin Möbel in Tranås. Among them where the nest table HE 6040 that made a comeback in the 1980’s.
In the late 1960's Ehrlin moved on from traditional wooden furniture to more modern pieces in plastic and futuristic shapes. Of these the armchair Biten (eng. the piece) and the sofa Stora famnen (eng. the big embrace) both in 1969. Among Hans Ehrlin’s most prolific pieces are the Polkett chair, designed together with Mikael Björnstjerna in 1972 and produced by Overman.
The armchair Ricco from 1972 for Arne Norell Möbel made of thick chromated steel tubes and a leather upholstery is another. Ricco is a part of the collection at the Musuem of Furniture Studies.
In the late 1970s Ehrlin founded the studio Design Team together with Christian Häggstam. The studio collaborated successfully with different furniture manufacturers in Sweden and Finland, as designers as well as creative directors.
This was followed in the 1980's by Ehrlin starting his own design and advertising agency named Byrån. As an architect, Ehrlin has created several private villas around the lake Sommen in Småland and Östergötland, starting in 2003 with one for the Swedish top tennis player Mats Wilander's holiday home.
