Norian joined the
Royal Malaysia Police as a Cadet
Assistant Superintendent on 8 November 1969. He served various positions including Officer-in-Charge of Police District (OCPD) of
Jasin and OCPD of
Petaling Jaya. On 31 December 1984, he was appointed
Terengganu Police Chief. On 31 December 1992, he was appointed
Selangor Police Chief. On 1 April 1994, he transferred to Bukit Aman to become Director of Special Branch. Norian Mai became the Deputy Inspector-General of Police on 6 May 1997 who replaced
Samsuri Arshad.
Inspector-General of Police On 8 January 1999, Norian became the
Inspector-General of Police when his predecessor
Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor resigned over the beating of former
Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the
Bukit Aman police lock-up. == Post-career ==