Joseph Jeppe Larsen was born September 27, 1873 in Newton, Utah the son of Christian Hansen and Marianne Larsen. In 1874 the Larsen family moved to Saint George, Utah in response to a call from leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Once the family arrived, they resided in Saint George for five weeks until Larsen's father found work tending the church cattle herd and the family subsequently moved outside of town to Moccasin Springs. In 1876, the family moved to Kanab, Utah where they remained until their return to Newton in 1884.

From 1884 to 1895, Larsen worked on the family farm and obtained his basic education. In 1895, Larsen enrolled at the Agricultural College of Utah (now Utah State University) to study dairy husbandry and graduated with a degree in 1897.

During the 1898 to 1903 period, Larsen was employed as a teacher at a number of schools in Utah, including at Point (1898-1900), Stone (1900-1901), Perry (1901-1903), and as principal at Mantua (1903). During this time, Larsen married Lettie Christensen on October 18, 1900 in the LDS Logan Temple and they later had four children who survived to adulthood; Vernon (1901), Osborne (1903), Grant (1906), and Annie (1912).

In 1903 Larsen returned to Newton where he worked winters as a schoolteacher and summers as a farmer. In 1907 Larsen quit teaching and pursued farming as a ful-time career. Over the course of the next fifty years, Larsen acquired one of the largest farms in Newton and was highly involved in local agriculture and irrigation. During this period, he served as president of the Newton Town Board, held various positions with the Newton Irrigation Company, was involved in the Newton Grain Growers Association, served as director of the Farmers Grain Cooperative, and was involved with repair work done on Newton Dam during 1937 and 1945. Larsen continued farming in Newton until his death on April 2, 1967.