Palm was born in Sala, Sweden, the son of Major Axel Palm and his wife Ebba. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lund University in 1928, a Licentiate of Philosophy degree in 1933 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1937. His PhD research was on ancient Slavic cult places in Northern Germany. Palm was employed at Svensk uppslagsbok from 1928 to 1936 and became a teaching assistant in 1933. He was librarian at the Lund University Library from 1938 to 1956 and he was head of department at the Swedish National Board of Information from 1943 to 1944 as well as being an expert there in 1945. In 1943, Palm put in a request for a leave of absence to operate under Carl Petersén at C-byrån, a secret intelligence organization within the Swedish Armed Forces during World War II. C-byrån's duty was to manage foreign intelligence gathering. He became director of operations in 1946 and it changed its name to T-kontoret. During the Cold War he was one of the heads of the Swedish stay-behind organization. In his posthumous notes he tells how he was subjected to American pressure that the Swedish intelligence service should be practically under direct CIA command, which Palm firmly resisted. In 1965 the foreign-oriented T-kontoret was merged with the domestic-oriented B-kontoret and became the Defence Staff's Special Bureau, more commonly known as IB. The head of B-kontoret, Birger Elmér, took over as director of the merged organization. Palm was fired and transferred to the Military Academy, where he was director of research from 1965 to 1972. Palm became a member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Uppsala in 1976 and of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences in 1969. He wrote articles in Svenska Dagbladet from 1965 and was the co-editor of Svensk Tidskrift from 1967 to 1979.
Personal life
In 1933, he married Elisabeth Wrangel, the daughter of Professor Ewert Wrangel and Baroness Ingrid. They had four children: Anders, Ebba, Hedvig and Brita. Palm and his wife settled in Östra Ryd in Söderköping Municipality when he retired. Palm died on 18 February 1995 and was buried in Östra Ryd's cemetery.
