A priest and administrator, his period of royal service occurred largely during the reign of his brother-in-law, Amenhotep III.

He was the son of Yuya and Thuya and the brother of Queen Tiye, the wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep III.

Under the rule of his brother-in-law, Anen became the Chancellor of Lower Egypt, fan-bearer, Second of the Four Prophets of Amun, sem-priest of Heliopolis, Greatest of Seers, High Priest in the temple of Re-Atum.

[7] However, this relationship is established by a short but clear reference to him in his mother Thuya's coffin, which stated that her son Anen was the second prophet of Amun.

Anen was buried in his tomb (TT120) in the Necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, on the west bank of the Nile opposite Thebes.