Svein graduated from the University of Oslo in 1981 with an MSc in Geology.
He has worked for different oil companies (Saga, DNO, Amoco, Revus Energy, Wintershall, Agora, Cairn Energy and Origo Exploration). Svein has more than 10 years’ experience as consultant geologist and was co-founder of a consultant company Jepsen, Sørensen & Ilebekk (1995) which was acquired by AkerKvaerner in 1997/1998.
Svein has co-founded three E&P companies; Revus Energy (2002) – acquired by Wintershall (2008), Agora Oil & Gas (2009 ) acquired by Agora by Cairn Energy (2012) and Origo Exploration (2014) acquired by DNO (2017). Svein left the position as Exploration Manager in DNO in 2020.