He was the son of Jacob Finne Foss (1763-1822) and Margrethe Meyer (born 1763).

He eventually rose to lieutenant colonel in the Norwegian Army, a rank he acquired in 1843.

[2] Foss was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1827 from the constituency Bergen, in 1830 from Moss, and from Christiania in 1833, 1836, 1839, 1842 and 1845.

Some of the songs were intended to celebrate the Norwegian Constitution Day, of which Foss was a proponent.

[5] Streets have been named after him in Bergen and Kongsberg as well as Herman Foss' gate in the district of St. Hanshaugen in Oslo.