Henriksen was born in Brooklyn on 30 November 1949, and graduated with a degree in music from the University of Oslo.
[1] Henriksen was a co-founder of the song group Stiftelsen [no] in 1971 (originally named Loelvens Stiftelse).
The group's debut album Kva hjelp det å syngje from 1974 was awarded Spellemannprisen in 1975.
[2] He later collaborated with singer and songwriter Kari Bremnes, and composed the melodies for her albums Mitt ville hjerte (1987) and Blå krukke (1989).
From 1992 he again worked for Kunnskapsforlaget, and was editor-in-chief for the third and fourth editions of the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia from 1995 to 2010.