He was born in Aurland as a son of Jens Larsen Gjerløw and Anne Marie Nitter Ohnstad.
He has been credited for playing a main role in re-establishing the Diocese of Stavanger, having agitated for it since 1919, and presented the case for Rogaland county council.
[1] In 1923 he was a part of a delegation (together with County Governor Thorvald Andreas Larsen and school inspector Tveteraas) to the Parliament of Norway.
He wrote some books, including Bibelske skisser and Korte søndagsbetragtninger, and contributed to the works Bibelen med forklaringer and Stavangerboken 1814–1914.
He wrote several articles in newspapers and magazines, and favored Morgenbladet,[1] where his nephew Olaf Gjerløw was editor-in-chief from 1920.