Anders Østergaard graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 1991 after training at Central Television, London. He worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency and as a researcher on documentary programmes.

Østergaard's preferred approach involves both observational and expository documentary types and often draws on a mix of archival material and new recordings, combining a sense of documentary authenticity with psychological intimacy.

Østergaard was awarded Best Documentary at Odense Film Festival in 1999 for The Magus about the renowned Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson. He is writer-director on the international co-production Tintin et moi (2003) and the documentary about one of Denmark's most popular rock bands, Gasolin (2006), which had a successful run at the domestic boxoffice with nearly a quarter million admissions.

Burma VJ - Reporting from a Closed Country (2008) marked Østergaard's international breakthrough. For his film about Burma's undercover video journalists filming the monks' massive uprising in 2007, he received an Oscar nomination and took home a record-breaking number of international awards, including IDFA's Joris Ivens and Movies That Matter.

In 2015 Østergaard received the Danish Dreyer Award as recognition for his extraordinary artistic work in the Danish film business.