 He worked as a bookkeeper's assistant in London for one year before attending middle school in Hamar from 1930 to 1931.He then moved to Oslo to work with advertising and study for the examen artium, which he completed as a private candidate in 1934.During the Second World War, Øgrim together with Arvid Storsveen was central in establishing the secret intelligence organization XU, from its start in the summer of 1940.