 He studied piano at the Music Conservatory of Oslo (1962–67), and became a siv.ing.in acoustics (under Asbjørn Krokstad) at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (1973), followed up with studies in jazz at Berklee in Boston.In Trondheim (1971–80) he worked with the local big band Bodega Band where he (and bassist Jan Tro) wrote a large amount of music on many recordings.