He became one of Norway's best tennis players and in 1955 played in a doubles final for the Norwegian championship with Arne Melander, a match which the duo lost.

He stated that he quit drawing for a period after his studies and that he struggled for several years to find his personal style.

Pushwagner illustrated Jensen's book Og resten står skrivd i stjernene/And the Rest is Writ(ten) in the Stars (1995).

Fascinated by comics since childhood, Pushwagner was inspired to start the series "Soft City" and "Doktor Fantastisk" during this period.

In July 2012, London-based publisher Art / Books published an extensive monograph on his work[7] to coincide with an exhibition at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom that subsequently toured to Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum in Norway and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in the Netherlands.