Background
L'Orange was born in Kristiania as a son of Major General Hans Wilhelm L'Orange (1868–1950) and Ginni Gulbranson (1879–1949).
anthropologist archaeologist art historian university professor
L'Orange was born in Kristiania as a son of Major General Hans Wilhelm L'Orange (1868–1950) and Ginni Gulbranson (1879–1949).
He was a paternal grandson of Hans Peter L'Orange, maternal grandson of Carl August Gulbranson, nephew of Major General Carl Gulbranson and brother-in-law of Norwegian journalist and writer, Gunnar Larsen. He took the dr.philos. degree in 1933 with his thesis Studien zur Geschichte des spätantiken Porträts. He was a professor of classical archaeology at the University of Oslo from 1942 to 1973.
In 1959 he established the Norwegian Institute in Rome, an affiliate of the University of Oslo, and was director of the institute until he retired in 1973. He was a visiting professor at Harvard University (1950) and at Johns Hopkins University (1966–1967). In 1969 he was awarded the Arts Council Norway Honorary Award.