He was a professor at the University of Bergen from 1968 to 1991. His thesis was a study on the Parliament of Norway (Tidsrommet 1870–1908 Det Norske Storting gjennom 150 år 2 ). He has written volume four of the History of Trondheim.
He was a board member of Norges almenvitenskapelige forskningsråd from 1973 to 1975.