Career
He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Finnmark during the terms 1950–1953, 1958–1961 and 1961–1965. Born in Nord-Varanger, Karlsen was mayor of Nord-Varanger municipality from 1945 to 1963. When the municipality was incorporated into Vadsø, Karlsen was mayor of that municipality from 1963 to 1972.
Outside politics he worked as a local bureaucrat from 1953 to 1968, and as a fisher and farmer.