from 1889 to 1894 he served as the county governor of finnmark. he was the mayor of vadsø from 1892 to 1894, and also sat one period in the parliament of norway, from 1892 to 1894 for the constituency "hammerfest, vardø og vadsø". he was a member of the standing committee on the military. from 1896 to 1906 he served as the county governor of aust-agder. he represented the constituency "arendal og grimstad" in the parliament of norway from 1903 to 1906. in arendal, he gained much support for wanting to locate arendal station at kittelsbukt rather than at barbu.