Høyland was born in Bærum. He studied at the University of Oslo and later at the University of California, Berkeley in the USA. While a student he worked for the intelligence department at the Norwegian High Command, a military officer with the rank of Major. He lectured at the University of Oslo from 1959 to 1965, and then at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, eventually as a Professor of mathematical statistics. He published the textbooks Sannsynlighetsregning og statistisk metodelære (two volumes) in 1972 and 1973.[1][2]
In 1944 Høyland composed the melody for Alf Prøysen's song "Julekveldsvise".