The son of Norwegian immigrant parents, Kvamme grew up in Northern California graduating from Jefferson High School of Daly City in 1955.

[2] He has been a director (and later Partner Emeritus) at venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers since March 1984.

In the corporate world he has served on the boards of Brio Technology, Gemfire, Harmonic, National Semiconductor,[3] Photon Dynamics, Power Integrations, and Silicon Genesis.

In 1998, Kvamme served as Chairman of the California State Electronic Commerce Advisory Council for Governor Pete Wilson's administration.

[2] In 2012, Kvamme supported Rick Perry in his US Presidential Campaign, and was a member of his California finance team.