He grew up on the Kofoedgård estate in Østermarie as the son of merchant Peder Jørgensen Kofoed (1707-1778).

He moved to Copenhagen as a young man where he passed the Skippers' Guild's navigational exam on 16 December 1764.

Each voyage generally lasted approximately 9 months and he departed in the autumn and returned in early summer.

He sold his ships in 1807 after the war with England had made trading on the Danish West Indies less profitable.

In the late 1880s, after selling his ships, Kofoed purchased Holbæk Slots Ladegård with 50 barrels of land.