He was born in Bergen as a son of shipbuilder and works owner Georg Christian Smitt and Marie Cathrine Wolff.
He worked as the county forester of Rogaland from 1914 to 1923, and at the research institution Vestlandets forstlige forsøksstasjon from 1923 to 1928.
He travelled extensively abroad, to study methods and ways to plant forest in the somewhat rough climate in these parts of Norway.
Among others he found the North American species Picea sitchensis to be suitable for Norway, during a study trip in 1916 and 1917.
The biographical dictionary Norsk biografisk leksikon referred to this forest planting as a "national task on the highest level".