He was the son of Johan Sørensen Brænne (1817–71) and Karen Moe (1821–1901).

The factory that he inherited from his father specialized in textile production He graduated as a chemistry engineer from Trondheim Technical College (now Norwegian Institute of Technology) from 1875.

He next studied chemistry and mechanical engineering at the Königlich-Sächsisches Polytechnikum (now Dresden University of Technology).

In 1878 he took over the family business and expanded it into spinning, weaving and dry cleaning.

[5] After the accession of the cabinet of Jens Bratlie on 20 February 1912, Brænne remained in government, again as Minister of Labour, but resigned on 23 August and was replaced by Nils Olaf Hovdenak.