He was born in Oslo, is a cand.philol. by education and formerly worked as a journalist. From 1981 to 1985 he was a political advisor in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Administration. He was elected to Oslo city council in 1991, and was a city commissioner between 1997 and 2000. From 2000 to 2009 he was the governing mayor of Oslo. As such he headed the executive branch of the city government in the capital city of Norway.[1]
^Ghabel Lunde, Mina (25 January 2008). "- Norges mektigste homse" [- Norway's most powerful homosexual man]. NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 5 April 2022.