I was born in January 1947 in Stavanger, a city on Norway’s scenic west coast, just a short time after the end of World War II. My parents had been engaged for many years, but the war postponed their plans. My father served as a marine captain throughout the entire war, first navigating the Atlantic, later the Pacific, aboard a Norwegian oil tanker. When Japan surrendered, he was finally able to return home and begin a new chapter in peacetime.

I grew up in Oslo, Norway’s capital, where I completed my formal education in 1972 with a Bachelor's degree from BI Norwegian Business School. 

My first company focused on fire protection, and we were among the first in Norway to introduce battery-operated smoke detectors for use in private homes. A few years later, these devices were made compulsory by the Norwegian Parliament.

When the smoke detector market became saturated, I turned to a new and more personal mission: helping elderly people live safely in their own homes. I began developing a medical alarm system that would allow seniors to call for emergency help at the push of a button. This system combined a miniature radio transmitter worn by the user and an automatic telephone dialer.

To make this a reality, I sought out the best technical minds in Europe. I found expertise in miniature radio technology in northern England and telecommunications in the Netherlands, where I acquired the technical lab of the then bankrupt Becker Telecommunicatie. I then established a company in the Netherlands to oversee the R&D. It took seven long and challenging years of development before the system was ready for mass production, which was eventually handled by Radofin Electronics in Hong Kong.

In 1985, I launched my own 24-hour alarm response center in Oslo to serve elderly people living independently. Over the next seven years, the service grew to become the largest of its kind in Norway, responding to emergency calls every 30 minutes, day and night.

In 1992, the Norwegian government approached me with an offer to purchase my company to expand the service nationwide. I accepted and entered into a warm and constructive partnership with the state. As part of the agreement, I committed to serve as Special Advisor to the government for three years, overseeing the creation of a national rescue system.

The work was completed in just one year, and according to the terms of my contract, I was then free to spend time abroad on a standby status.

It was a proud moment when the Minister of Social Affairs, Grete Knudsen, officially opened the nationwide service at the new emergency center in the city of Bergen. In a photo taken at the opening, you can see me demonstrating how incoming emergency calls are received—a moment that marked the culmination of many years of effort.

What followed was my first visit to Thailand - and the beginning of an entirely new chapter in my life.

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