[2] Johnson was born near Karlstad, Sweden, and his family moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, in 1891.

He worked as a millhand and lumberjack, became a farmer, and by 1913 was the leader of the Minnesota branch of the American Society of Equity and Vice President of the Equity-owned Equity Co-operative Grain Exchange and Farmers' Terminal Packing Co.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1935, in the 73rd congress, winning one of the general ticket seats.

Subsequently, he resumed agricultural pursuits and served as state supervisor of public stockyards 1934–1936.

A son of his, Francis Austin Johnson (1904–1989) is the creator of the World's Biggest Ball of Twine; the twine ball rests under an enclosed pagoda in Darwin Township, Minnesota.