Having studied law from 1941 to 1943, after World War II he worked one year as a police officer and then as a civil servant. He then became a professional trade unionist, holding positions in trade unions within the national trade union centerNorwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1951. He later rose in the hierarchy of the Confederation to serve as secretary from 1960 to 1969 and then vice chairman from 1969 to 1977. From 1977 to 1988 he directed the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority.