Henriksen served his mandatory military service from 1975 to 1976 in the Royal Norwegian Navy. Henriksen holds a cand.polit. degree from the University of Oslo which he attended from 1978 to 1984, a period during which he also worked as a journalist for regional newspaper Østlandets Blad. While studying French in Tours during the early 1980s, Henriksen has stated he first discovered wine while there.Maison (September 2008). "På gaffelen: Vin i munnen", p. 77 (in Norwegian)
