He started out as a temperance activist and trade unionist before serving as a politician and in the party press.
He was born in Halse in Vest-Agder, the youngest of 11 children of Henrik Tormundsen (1828-1998) and Gunhild Tomine Taraldsdatter (1835-1993).
In the 1912 Norwegian parliamentary election, he stood in the single-member constituency Hammersborg with Martha Tynæs as deputy.
[4] During the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, Ousland edited the illegal newspaper Fri Fagbevegelse from early 1944 to August 1944.
It built on the so-called Blåboka, "The Blue Book", written by leading politician Haakon Lie in exile in England.
[7] He wrote a book about contemporary challenges, Fagorganisasjonens problemstilling i dag in 1946, and the union history Norsk Treindustriarbeiderforbund 50 år in 1954.