Surlien was the Minister of Environmental Affairs from 1983 to 1986 during Kåre Willoch's second term as prime minister. From 1987 to she was a judge at Borgarting Court of Appeal in Oslo. She was Director of the Independent Judicial Commission, reporting to the High Commissioner of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001–2004. Thereafter she was a judge at Borgarting until 2016. During the same period she was appointed an ad hoc member of the Efta Competition Agency.
