[1] From 1975 to 1976 he was a part of Bratteli's Second Cabinet as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Church and Education.
[2] From 1976 to 1977 in Nordli's Cabinet he was a State Secretary in the Ministry of Industry.
[3] From 1977 to 1989 he worked in the bank Den norske Creditbank, from 1981 to 1989 as vice chief executive.
He served as the permanent under-secretary of state in the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, the highest-ranking bureaucratic position, from 1989 to 1992.
He abruptly left to become the chief executive officer of Statkraft, where he stayed until 2001.