Richardt Axel Poulsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 1, 1887.  He studied at the Art Academy in Copenhagen from 1908 through 1911.  By 1912 he was winning gold medals in exhibitionss, including the 1914 Eckersberg Medal, awarded annually by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and exhibited at Charlottenborg, the home of the Danish Academy.

Poulsen traveled to France, Greece and Italy to study the sculpture firsthand.

Poulsen’s scuptures can be found throughout Copenhagen and Denmark including friezes on the YWCA building on Kannikestræde in Copenhagen; a bridge port on Axel Borg; alter-pieces in Ansgarkirken in Odense, the Peace Church in Odense, and the Skjoldborg Church; reliefs in Copenhagen stadium portal and a fountain in Haderslev.

The Museum of Danish Resistance tells the story of Danish resistance during the Nazi occupation of 1940 -1945.  Behind a large granite monument made by Axel Poulsen in 1949 lie the graves of 31 patriots who died in concentration camps as well as 151 commemorative plaques in honour of some of those who disappeared without trace.

Axel Poulsen died in Copenhagen on August 22, 1972.