Haugland was born in Copenhagen and made his professional debut in Oslo in 1968. From 1970 to 1973 he was based in Bremen, and appeared at Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus in 1972. In 1973 he became a member of the Royal Danish Opera, where in 1985 he was made a Kammersanger. 　　His engagements outside Denmark included roles at La Scala, Milan, The Metropolitan Opera, New York, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, the Opéra National de Paris and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. 　　In 1989 he was honoured as "Person of the Year" by the Danish-American Society of New York. 　　He died of cancer in Lillerød, Denmark.