Interview:Total RPG February 22nd 1999
Dan Owsen worked as an English translator for Nintendo and was responsible for bringing many games including Zelda titles over to the English Language. Dan Owsen had a column at Nintendo's official website, where it was known as Ask Dam, at which he would answer various questions. The below peace is from an interview that Dan did with Total RPG.
Question: Dan, it appears something about the Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past translation is jumbled. It is said the events played out in Ocarina of Time were the events that happened in the story of A Link to the Past, and therefore were to solve many story holes. But if Zelda 3's instruction manual is read, these events sound completely different, and now there seem to be more holes than ever. It clearly states on the back of the box of A Link to the Past that it was a prequel to Zelda’s 1 and 2, but Miyamoto says it comes after them. What's the truth?
Dan Owsen: The truth is, the text on the box (and possibly the Nintendo Power guide) is wrong. D'oh! If you just ignore the box text, the stories fit together better. Basically, the events in Ocarina are the "Imprisoning War" described in the SNES version's story. The Golden Land was the Sacred Realm before Ganondorf corrupted it. The order of the stories is: Ocarina, Zelda 1, Zelda 2, A Link to the Past. Since Link's Awakening was a dream (or was it?) it's hard to say where it fits.