Friis was commissioned as an officer 1902 and was given the rank of
underlöjtnant the same year. Friis became lieutenant in the
Swedish Fortification Corps in 1907 and graduated from the
Artillery and Engineering College in 1908. Friis was promoted to captain in 1913 and served in the campaign with the
Austro-Hungarian Army in 1916. He was a teacher at the
Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1918 to 1919 and at the Artillery and Engineering College from 1919 to 1921 and served as adjutant to the
Crown Prince from 1920 to 1932. In April 1934, the then
Chief of the Air Force major general
Eric Virgin applied for a year's
leave of absence, after Virgin and the
Abyssinia government entered an agreements to which Virgin would function as chief adviser of the reorganization of the country's army. Friis took over as Chief of the Air Force and was promoted to lieutenant general in 1936. Nordenskiöld often expressed opinions and criticism in an arrogant and hurtful way. He was often on matters of fact superior to his subordinates and opponents, but he found it difficult to acknowledge others work and listen to their arguments. Thereby he sometimes counteracted the Air Force interests, and he compromised at times that particular work satisfaction and the cohesion he sought. This prompted the defense minister
Per Edvin Sköld and the Supreme Commander
Olof Thörnell in 1942 to appeal to Friis to remain as Chief of the Air Force. Although Friis shared Sköld's and Thörnell's opinion on Nordenskiöld, Friis felt that Nordenskiöld had to succeed him if the Air Force would be able to keep up with the ever-accelerating development. and head of the Royal Djurgården Administration (
Kungliga Djurgårdens Förvaltning) from 1949 to 1962. Friis became a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1924 and was board member of
Royal Automobile Club. ==Personal life==