C.D. Andersen was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He attended public schools, then the University of Wisconsin until the draft caught up with him in late 1967. After his navy service, he graduated from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) with a diploma in Wood Technics (Carpentry and Cabinetmaking). He is married to Linda, a retired elementary school teacher.
C.D. worked in a car wash, a grocery store, on a railroad section crew, and in various cabinet shops until he started his own business in 1980, becoming a Master Cabinetmaker. He taught as adjunct instructor for Wood Technics programs at NWTC, and wrote an environmental column for the Green Bay News-Chronicle. He is a current member of Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin, Northeast Wisconsin Woodworkers Guild, and is the Secretary for Brown County Conservation Alliance.