Anker Henrik Jørgensen was born on July 13, 1922 in a poor area of Copenhagen to Johannes Albert Jørgensen and Maria Jørgensen. He was bought up by close members of his family. In 1948 he married Ingrid Kvist Pedersen (17 August 1922 – 18 October 1997) whom he remained married to until her death in 1997. They had 4 children. Throughout this period, he lived in the working class area of Sydhavnen, an inner city district of Copenhagen.

He began his political carer early, and in 1950 he became a member of a trade union. He led the Danish Workers Union, SiD, between 1968 and 1972. Whilst he was chairman of the Danish Workers Union, he was elected to the Parliament of Denmark for the first of many times in 1964.

In 1972, he succeeded Jens Otto Krag as Prime Minister of Denmark following the European Union Referendum of that year. He would hold this position for 14 months until the election when he would be succeeded by liberal Poul Hartling.

After just over a year in opposition, he would return as Prime Minister of Denmark at the head of a coalition between the Social Democrats and the Liberals. This coalition would last until October 23, 1979, and for a brief period of two months in 1978 he concurrently held the position of foreign minister. During this time, Anker Jørgensen would preside over the electoral age referendum.

For the rest of his period in office, he would lead a solitary Social Democrat government. He stepped down as prime minister on September 10, 1982 due to an uncertain parliamentary situation, he did, however, remain as leader of the Social Democrats until his resignation in 1987 when he was succeeded by Svend Auken. Throughout his time in office, he showed strong leadership and guided Denmark into the EEC and further developed Denmark’s social and welfare systems, but his policies also created a huge state budget deficit, which was compensated for by large state loans, increasing the Danish state debt substantially.

He was the head of the Danish delegation to the Nordic Council. Jørgensen was elected "Dane Of The Year" in 1990. He has written several autobiographies. Whilst in government, Anker Jørgensen became famous for being the People’s Gentleman. He gained a reputation as being a hard, dedicated worker.