He was the Bergen city recorder (gjaldker) and also owned land among other places in outer Sunnfjord.
The year later he confirmed, together with king Eric II of Norway, a settlement between the archbishop of Nidaros and his Chapter.
In 1297 he was present at multiple major cases in Trøndelag, and in 1305 he witnessed about the dowry of princess Euphemia of Rügen, spouse of king Håkon V of Norway.
[2][3] Jon's ancestry is not known, and he is therefore considered to be the first known member of the Smør family (Smørsætta) of Norwegian nobles.
Munch did however claim that Jon's father could have been Ragnvald Urka who joined king Haakon IV of Norway on his trip to Scotland in 1263, but no real evidence is known to support this theory.