On the maternal side he was a great-grandson of Jacob Hersleb Darre, a founding father of the Norwegian Constitution, and a grandson of bishop Hans Jørgen Darre. On the paternal side he was a member of the Jenssen trading dynasty; as the great-grandson of Matz Jenssen, grandson of Lauritz Dorenfeldt Jenssen, grandnephew of Jens Nicolai and Hans Peter Jenssen and a second cousin of Anton and Hans Peter Jenssen. Through his brother Lauritz he was an uncle of jurist Lauritz Jenssen Dorenfeldt.