He was born in Kristiania as a son of barrister Fredrik Moltke Bugge (1865–1938) and Kristine Elisabeth Heuch.

[2] On the maternal side he was a grandson of bishop Johan Christian Heuch.

[2] After finishing his secondary education in 1911, he graduated from the Royal Frederick University with the cand.jur.

He was a deputy judge in Lillehammer and Fredrikstad from 1916 to 1917, junior solicitor from 1917 to 1922, and barrister with access to Supreme Court cases from 1922.

[6] He was a supervisory council member of Arendal Smelteverk, Det Norske Garantiselskap, Borregaard and Morgenbladet.