 He was a member of the municipal council for Vadsø Municipality from 1951 to 1963, serving as deputy mayor in 1951–1952 and mayor in 1953–1955 and again from 1955–1959.He was also the director of a hospital in Finnmark from 1954-1959.In 1963, he was appointed to be the Acting County Governor of Finnmark since the newly appointed governor (Kolbjørn Varmann) was serving in the Storting and he wanted to fulfill his term in office before moving to Finnmark.