Ekstrand was born on 22 February 1888 in Uppsala, Sweden, the son of senior engineer Åke Gerhard Ekstrand and Hulda. He had four siblings, three brothers and one sister. Ekstrand attended Norra Latin and later from 1900 Norra Real. He became a sea cadet in 1902 and received his naval officer exam and was commissioned into the Swedish Navy as an acting sub lieutenant in 1908. Ekstrand was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1910 and was a cadet officer at the Royal Swedish Naval Academy from 1915 to 1918 and was a teacher at the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1918 to 1920. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1917 and was adjutant to the corps commanding officer in Karlskrona in 1923 and was first flag lieutenant in the staff of the Chief of the Coastal Fleet from 1926 to 1930. Ekstrand was the adjutant to His Majesty the King in 1929 and was a teacher at the Royal Swedish Naval Staff College from 1929 to 1935. Ekstrand was a teacher at the Finnish War College in 1929 and was promoted to commander of the 2nd rank in 1930. He was secretary of the 1930 Defense Commission and a teacher at the Royal Swedish Army Staff College in Stockholm from 1930 to 1934. Ekstrand was also a teacher in courses for senior naval officers in 1926 and 1932. He was head of the Communications Department of the Naval Staff in 1931 and head of the Operations Department of the Naval Staff from 1932 to 1936. Ekstrand was promoted to commander of the 1st rank in 1936 and was captain of from 1936 to 1937. As captain of Drottning Victoria he represented the Swedish Navy at the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead in connection with King George VI's coronation in May 1937. He became senior adjutant to His Majesty the King in 1937. Ekstrand was promoted to captain in 1937 and was flag captain the same year. He was Chief of the Naval Staff from 1939 to 1942 when he was promoted to rear admiral. Ekstrand was Chief of the Coastal Fleet from 1942 to 1945 when took command of the East Coast Naval District. Ekstrand was a vociferous proponent of Moral Re-Armament, both in Sweden and overseas. He died suddenly while still serving as commanding officer of the East Coast in the spring of 1951 and was given a state funeral.
Personal life
In 1915 he married Lisa Burman, the daughter of the banker Bernhard Burman and Tora Tjäder. Ekstrand died in 1951 and is buried in Galärvarvskyrkogården in Stockholm. He was the father of four daughters, one of whom was Brita who in 1945 married the managing director Gunnar Nittzell.
