 His family operated a company dealing in dried and salted cod.After graduating from the Oslo Commerce School ("Oslo Handelsgymnasium") in 1916, he stayed for a few years in the United States and Brazil, as a representative of the family business.In 1926, he was married to Else Heyerdahl Wilhelmsen (1905–1989), daughter of Halfdan Wilhelmsen (1864–1923) and granddaughter of Wilhelm Wilhelmsen, founder of one the country's largest shipping company.