She served as a member of parliament from 1981 to 1997, as Minister of Trade and Shipping in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1990 and as leader of the Conservative Party from 1991 to 1994.

After she left politics in 1997, she held roles in private business, ran her own consultancy and was a board member of Statoil and other companies and organisations.

Five was born Karin Cecilie Kullmann in Bærum, the daughter of a dentist, and was better known by the nickname "Kaci" (pronounced [kasi]).

After finishing upper secondary school at Nadderud in 1969 she was educated in law, French language and political science, and graduated with the cand.polit.

[1] After leaving parliament in 1997, Five served as managing director in Aker RGI until 2001, and since 2002 remained active as an independent consultant.

[1] As a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, she was involved in the decisions to award the Nobel Peace Prize to, among others, Shirin Ebadi, Al Gore, Martti Ahtisaari, Barack Obama, Liu Xiaobo, Juan Manuel Santos, and the European Union.