After finishing secondary education, he briefly worked as a substitute school teacher in his hometown in 1960 before entering Franklin and Marshall College as a part of the Fulbright Program.

[2] He was not re-elected to a fourth parliamentary term in 1989; instead he was appointed the new director of the Norwegian Data Inspectorate[2] when Helge Seip reached the age limit of 70 years and stepped down.

As director of the Data Inspectorate, Apenes has made a mark in the political debate as a defender of privacy.

[3] When commenting on Internet privacy, Apenes deplored the indifference with which people disseminate personally identifiable information.

In addition, he has written columns in the newspapers Fredriksstad Blad, Stavanger Aftenblad, Dagens Næringsliv and A-Magasinet.