He finished his secondary education in Narvik in 1956, took military training in Harstad and studied at the University of Oslo. He graduated with the cand.real. degree in geography in 1964. He worked as a teacher from 1965 to 1972 and editor from 1972 to 1985, among others for the magazine Teknisk Presse. In 1985 he took up writing full-time.
