 He was the son of Amund Knutsson Aarflot (1788–1860) and his wife, Berte Canutte Aarflot (1795–1859) who was a Christian hymnwriter in the Haugean tradition ("haugianere").From 1841 he was an employee at a bookstore in Aalesund.In 1860, he opened his own bookstore, "Aarflots Bokhandel" (now Ark Aarflot).