Norway's first social doctor was his grandchild, also named Viggo Ullmann (Lillehammer, 1920–).

He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1875, after which he worked as a teacher at the Folk High Schools Skulestad, Østre Moland, Landvik, Bratsberg, Drangedal, Gjerpen and Vinje.

In this period, he was also chairman of the publisher Det Norske Samlaget, as well as editor for the newspaper Varden.

[4] He helped The Association for Women's Suffrage (led by his sister, Ragna Nielsen) to write a suggestion for a change of the constitution, something which brought him into conflict with certain religious societies.

Ullman was First Deputy Member of the Nobel Committee (7 August 1897 – 5 June 1900).