Finished middle school in Haugesund in 1901, then attended technical school in Bergen to 1906, then in the technical high school in Dresden until 1908. Then went to America and worked for the Jennet Bridge and Iron Works in Baltimore till 1910, and then in Chicago for the Morawa Construction Co. for 16 years. At various times he worked on iron structures such as bridges, skyscrapers, factories, smelters, unloading and loading cranes. In time he was a chief. In 1920 he visited his family home, and in 1926 he moved back to Norway for good, living in Bydalen and Fredrikstad.