He was born in Bø i Telemark as a son of lieutenant colonel Johan Mathias Rye and Kristiane Elisabeth Gasmann.
[2] In 1865 he married naval captain's daughter Kathinka Sofie Diriks (1841–1899).
[1] He graduated from the Norwegian Naval Academy as an officer in 1858, and after mastering vessels for the postal service and supervising fisheries he was hired as an assistant in the Norwegian Coastal Navigation Administration in 1866.
[1] He chaired the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue, took part in parliamentary law commissions and was an honorary member of the Polytechnic Society and the Association International de la Marine.
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