He finished his secondary education in 1939 in Fredrikstad, and during the Second World War he studied piano and organ, and took commerce school.
He took another degree at the University of Oslo in 1955 with the master's thesis Det bibelske drama i Nederlandene før Joost van den Vondel.
degree on the topic Joost van den Vondel with the thesis Zwischen Himmel und Erde (1963).
Another important book about Joost van den Vondel, Het treurspel spant de kroon, came in 1987.
Langvik-Johannessen has also studied Franz Grillparzer (the book Im Namen kaiserlicher Majestät, 1975) as well as the Rederijkers and Flemish drama.