He was born in Sortland Municipality and finished the science branch of Sortland Upper Secondary School in 1978. He was graduated from the Army Engineering College in 1981 and held a diploma in civil engineering. He was an officer in the Norwegian Army (Brigaden i Nord-Norge/Brigade of North-Norway in the engineering company) until 1984.
He was first elected to the municipal council of Bærum Municipality in 1995, and chaired his local party chapter from 2000 to 2004. He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from the Conservative Party (Høyre) for Akershus during the term 2005–2009 and during the term 2009–2013. From 1 to 17 October 2005, he met in Parliament for Jan Petersen as the Parliament convened before the second cabinet Bondevik withdrew.[1]