He finished his secondary education in Voss in 1940 and took the candidate.philol.
Degree in 1950. He worked as a lexicographer associated with the University of Oslo, and eventually became a docent and professor of Nynorsk philology from 1978 to 1988. He was involved in Nynorskordboka and Norsk ordbok, but his main work was the agricultural lexicon Norsk landbruksordbok. Commencing the work in 1955, it was published at Samlaget in 1978 with 80,000 entries.
He later wrote the more popular book on Nynorsk synonyms, Medical andre ordinary
Published in 1985 as a follow-up of the earlier På godt norsk, it was reissued several times.
He became an honorary member of Noregs Mållag in 1998.