Career
He hails from Verran. From 1989 to 1990, during Syse"s Cabinet, he was appointed State Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. He served as a deputy representative to the Parliament of Norway from Nord-Trøndelag during the term 1989–1993.
From 1991 to 1995 he was county mayor of Nord-Trøndelag.
Outside politics, he was a director in the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, later named Innovation Norway following a merger. In 2011 he became chair of Statnett.