He competed at the national competition Landsskytterstevnet several times, winning his junior class three years in a row.
Later he took part in various resistance activities, including working for the clandestine intelligence organization XU.
[1] He was arrested by the Germans 11 June 1944 and held at Møllergata 19 until 14 February 1945, when he was incarcerated at the Grini concentration camp until end of the war.
[5] Haarstad participated as a police investigator during the legal purge in Norway after World War II.
When Bryhn had to leave POT in 1967, Haarstad returned to the Police Surveillance Agency, as the next leader, and led the service until he retired in 1982.