[3] Risom spent two years at Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, before beginning work as a furniture developer and interior designer with the architectural firm of Ernst Kuhn.

From there he joined the design department of Nordiska Kompaniet where he was introduced to Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson.

This led to his work being included in the Collier's "House of Ideas" designed by Edward Durell Stone and constructed in front of Rockefeller Center during the 1939 New York World's Fair.

[6] With the advent of World War II, Risom was drafted into the United States Army in 1943 and served under General George S.

In the 1950s, JRD ran a series of ads featuring photography by Richard Avedon and the slogan "The Answer is Risom."

[3] Risom stayed on as CEO for 3 years,[7] and then relocated from New York to New Canaan, Connecticut and launched a consulting service, Design Control.