[1] Ole Rasmussen Apeness was born at Borre in Vestfold, Norway.

In 1789, he bought the family farm from his mother where he and his wife raised their seven children.

In 1819, his farm, Apenesgården, was purchased for use as Karljohansvern, the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy in Horten from 1819 to 1963.

[2][3][4] He represented Jarlsberg Grevskab (now Vestfold) at the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in 1814.

Together with his fellow delegates, Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg and magistrate Gustav Peter Blom, he supported the position of the union party (Unionspartiet).