After some years as deputy judge in Mandal District Court and civil servant in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, he was hired in the Norwegian Shipowners' Association in 1968.

He spent the rest of his career there, peaking at the position of chief executive from 1992 to 2002.

[1][2][3] He has chaired Folketrygdfondet from 2002 to 2006 as well as the Norwegian Jockey Club, Norsk Rikstoto and the exclusive bibliophiles' society Bibliofilklubben.

In 2009, he made a name as a non-fiction writer, when he released the book Tusen dager together with Jo Stein Moen.

[1][4] The duo followed with Krigen som skapte et bibliotek, issued in 2011 by the Labour Movement Archive and Library, an essay book on the bibliography of the Spanish Civil War.