Halverson began skating at age six because his house was on a pond. He would try to copy the moves he saw on TV. He asked for skating lessons after attending the 1998 World Championships in Minneapolis as a spectator. Halverson was adopted as an infant from Colombia. His brother and his sister were also adopted from Colombia and Paraguay respectively. Coach Veronica Pershina is the 1985 European bronze medallist and 1979 World Junior Champion in Pair skating (with Marat Akbarov).