Background
He was born at the islet Lille Herbern, and grew up in Frogner. He was a grandson of merchant Axel Pettersen, who owned the company Gunerius Pettersen A/South (now: Gunerius Shoppingsenter).
He was born at the islet Lille Herbern, and grew up in Frogner. He was a grandson of merchant Axel Pettersen, who owned the company Gunerius Pettersen A/South (now: Gunerius Shoppingsenter).
Axel owned the company, which was founded by Gunerius Pettersen, together with Harald, Gunerius and Carl Pettersen who were all Gunerius Pettersen"s granduncles. A fourth granduncle was Hjalmar Pettersen, the noted a librarian and bibliographer. Gunerius Pettersen attended Oslo Commerce School and took higher education in Saint Gallen.
He inherited the family company in 1947, and owned it for some time together with Hjalmar"s son Christian Børs Pettersen.
In their time, the family company was expanded from operating a shopping centre to additional ownerships, such as the chain Bonus. Pettersen also served as consul for Bolivia.
He was an active yacht racer.