Fredrik Anderson

A curious mind and a love of learning has taken Fredrik Anderson on an interesting life journey. The CEO of CellMark still remembers the joy he experienced when hearing stories of well-travelled friends and family, and this led him to seek out similar opportunities for himself. As a child he learned to play the violin, at age 20 he took up singing lessons — “despite not having the voice for it,” he quips — and at 35 he decided he wanted to learn all there was to know about gardening. He studied psychology and anthropology simply because he was curious about the topics. He was also lucky enough to work in a vast array of countries, from France to China, the Philippines, and the Middle East.

“I have always had this urge to learn and I think curiosity is essential for progress,” says Fredrik. “Only when you look beyond yourself can you know if there is room for improvement. Curiosity is a blessing and it plays a big role in many people’s lives, including my own.”

Born and raised in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, Fredrik jumped at the chance to move to Karlstad at age 23 to start his professional career in an administration role with a transport company. He stayed there for about 3 years and throughout that time kept pushing for the opportunity to move abroad; however, he was never given the opportunity to do so. He then decided to move back to Gothenburg where he joined Skandia, a leading insurance company in Sweden. He spent a couple of years working as a marine cargo underwriter and continued to push hard for the chance to work with the Group overseas. Finally, in the late 1980s, his dreams came true when he was transferred to Paris, France.