He attended Idaho State College in Pocatello and completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Anderson then attended the University of Idaho in Moscow and received a Juris Doctor from its College of Law in 1949.

[1][2] Anderson was nominated by President Richard Nixon on December 1, 1971, to a seat on the U.S. District Court in Idaho vacated by Judge Frederick M. Taylor.

[2] Anderson was nominated by President Gerald Ford on June 18, 1976, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge M. Oliver Koelsch.

He was confirmed by the Senate on July 2 and received his commission the same day;[2] he served until his death in Boise on April 16, 1988, due to a brain aneurysm.