He was the son of priest Leonhard Christian Borchgrevink Holmboe, Jr. and his wife Thea Louise Schetelig.
His great-grandfather Leonhard Christian Borchgrevink Holmboe was a priest and national politician.
[1][2] He received his early education from his father, who was a minister, attended secondary school in Tromsø, and took his university entrance examinations in Bodø.
In 1930, he passed his Candidate Real examinations and took a position as meteorologist in the Norwegian Weather Service in Tromsø.
In 1940, he was asked to join in establishing a meteorology program at University of California, Los Angeles.