He was promoted to deputy under-secretary of state in 1926, but was dismissed and later incarcerated for listening to hostile radio in 1941, during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany.He was born in Bergen as the son of jurist Carl Ludvig Stoud Platou (1841–1898) and his wife Mette Marie Grüner Christiansen (1846–1927).German Reichskommissar Josef Terboven soon dominated Norwegian politics, and already in October he expressed a wish to remove Platou from office.[1] As the exiled Nygaardsvold cabinet did not return immediately, Chief Officers were appointed by the Home Front to ensure the restoration of the liberal democratic regime.A so-called government delegation, consisting of exiled politicians but not the actual cabinet members, was set up on 8 May, deletages reaching Norway between 12 and 14 May.He was also the deputy chairman of the Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association from 1946 to 1951 and a board member of Det Norske Luftfartselskap from 1946.