Judge Anderson was born in Pasadena, California on March 19, 1952. He was raised in Southern California and graduated from La Salle High School in Pasadena. He attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana where he received a BA degree in English. He then attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law where he received his JD in 1978.

Judge Anderson then went to work at Hillsinger and Castanzo in Orange County practicing in the area of insurance defense and litigation, concentrating in the area of product liability and malpractice defense. He moved to the Santa Barbara office in 1987, and in 1995 opened his own law practice.

Judge Anderson was appointed to the Municipal Court bench in September of 1997, by Governor Pete Wilson. With the unification of the courts of August of 1998, Judge Anderson became a Superior Court Judge. Judge Anderson currently presides over Arraignments, Drug Court, Mental Health Court, Clean & Sober Calendar and Domestic Violence Review Court, in addition to acting as a back up judge for the Criminal Departments. Judge Anderson was the Presiding Judge of the Santa Barbara Superior Court in 2004.