He became a timekeeper, switchman, brakeman and conductor, before serving with the Army Air Forces during World War II.

He was a yardmaster for the Southern Pacific Railroad when he and his first wife, Mai Alquist, moved to San Jose, California in 1947.

He also routinely chaired the two-house conference committee that wrote the final version of the state budget before it went to the Assembly and Senate floors.

[1] He was perhaps best known for his co-authorship of the landmark 1974 law, known as the Warren-Alquist Act, which created the California Energy Commission and became a national model.

In the legislature, Alquist also helped to establish the Santa Clara County transit system, the state's earthquake safety programs Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), which became the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) in 2022, and Hospital Facilities Seismic Safety Act (HSSA), and the state Energy Commission.