Nils Andersen was born in Drammen, Norway, and immigrated to South Africa with his family in 1911. His father, a skipper, joined a whaling vessel in Saldanha Bay before the family settled in Durban in 1914. Andersen initially pursued engineering but aspired to become an artist, enrolling in art classes at the Natal Technical Art School between 1924 and 1928 and later studying ceramics there in 1938.

Andersen became a full-time artist in 1933 and taught art and ceramics at the Natal Technical Art School from 1942 to 1944. Although not an official war artist, he received commissions to paint the Durban Port and various warships during the war years. His work is represented in the Norwegian Hall on the Berea in Durban, in the office...