 After primary school in Vågå he attended secondary school in Vinstra from 1972 to 1975, and worked as a sawmill worker from 1975 to 1976.He had joined the Workers' Youth League and chaired it locally and regionally; from 1981 to 1983 he was a member of the central board.He took a degree in history and political science at the University of Oslo in 1980.