[1] Johan Vibe was born on as one of two illegitimate children of the Danish nobleman Peder Wibe (c. 1596–1658) and an unnamed French woman.

[2][3] He received a military education in the Netherlands, finishing in 1659 and joined the Norwegian Army shortly after.

[2] For his performance in the Gyldenløve War, for which the Norwegian offensives were generally successful but only served to offset the Danish setbacks elsewhere,[4] he was promoted to major in 1675 and lieutenant colonel in 1676.

He was given command of the squadron which gave support to the fleet with which Governor-General Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve attacked the historically Norwegian Province of Bohuslan, which had been ceded to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.

Vibe advanced to major general in 1682 and was transferred to Trondheim as commander of the Norwegian military forces north of the Dovrefjell mountains.