Knut Vareide has a degree in social economics (cand oecon) from the University of Oslo (1985). He was a researcher at the Resource Policy Group from 1985 to 1988. From 1998 to 1990, he was business manager in the Dønna municipality (1988-1990). After a period of various business activities on Helgeland, he returned to research in 1996, and has been a researcher at Telemark Research since. For the past 25 years, he has conducted research in the field of regional development, primarily based on quantitative analyses and models. The models and analyses that Vareide developed are currently used by many municipalities, regions and counties in Norway as a basis for strategy development and community planning. Knut Vareide was a member of the district industry committee (Distriktnæringsutvalget) in 2019 and 2020.