The prison is located approximately an hour's drive south of Stavanger.

Åna prison is also one of the largest Norwegian governmental owned farms.

Åna prison has origins as a forced labor institution.

Opstad Forced Labor Institution (Norwegian: Opstad tvangsarbeidshus) was opened in 1912, and was a prison with hard labor for vagrants until the Vagrancy Act provisions on forced labor was abolished in 1970,[1] and the institution became a regular prison.

The cultivated area is used for feed production and grain, growing potatoes and vegetables.