It originated at Bredtvet farm as a learning home (lærehjem) for young boys, erected 1918 and in use from 1919 to 1923.

Beginning in 1941 the Nazi collaborationist party Nasjonal Samling used Bredtveit as a political prison.

People incarcerated at Bredtveit during the war included several professors arrested during the crackdown on the University of Oslo in October 1943: Johan Christian Schreiner, Odd Hassel, Ragnar Frisch, Johannes Andenæs, Carl Jacob Arnholm, Bjørn Føyn, Eiliv Skard, Harald K. Schjelderup and Anatol Heintz.

[3] Also, a group of Jewish prisoners that arrived in Oslo after the departure of SS Donau were held at Bredtveit.

Forced labour ceased to exist in Norway in 1970, whereupon the prison was renamed Bredtveit fengsel og sikringsanstalt.