She was born in Larvik, grew up in Lillestrøm and Tromsø, and moved to Oslo in 1978 where she lives today with her registered partner Anne Christine Kjær (also known as Tine Kjær) and their daughter Iohanne. Holt graduated with a law degree from the University of Bergen in 1986, and worked for The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in the period 1984 - 1988. She then worked at the Oslo Police Department for two years, earning her right to practice as a lawyer in Norway. In 1990 she returned to NRK, where she worked one year as a journalist and anchor woman for the news program Dagsrevyen.

Anne Holt started her own law practice in 1994, and served as Minister of Justice in Cabinet Jagland for a short period from November 25, 1996 to February 4, 1997. She resigned for health reasons, and was replaced by Gerd-Liv Valla.

In 1993 she made her debut as a novelist with the crime novel Blind gudinne, featuring the lesbian police officer Hanne Wilhelmsen. The two novels Løvens gap (1997) and Uten ekko (2000) are co-authored with her former state secretary Berit Reiss-Andersen.

She is one of the most successful crime novelists in Norway. She has been published in 25 countries. Val McDermid, a Scottish crime writer has once said that "Anne Holt is the latest crime writer to reveal how truly dark it gets in Scandinavia.” [1]

The Hanne Wilhelmsen series

• 1993 Blind gudinne (Blind Goddess)
• 1994 Salige er de som tørster (Blessed Are Those Who Thirst)
• 1995 Demonens død (Death of the Demon)
• 1997 Løvens gap (co-authored with Berit Reiss-Andersen) (The Lion's Den)
• 1999 Død joker (Dead Joker)
• 2000 Uten ekko (co-authored with Berit Reiss-Andersen) (No Echo)
• 2003 Sannheten bortenfor (Beyond The Truth)
• 2007 1222

Separate titles

• 1997 Mea culpa
• 1998 I hjertet av VM. En fotballreise (co-authored with Erik Langbråten)
• 1999 Bernhard Pinkertons store oppdrag

The Vik/Stubø series

• 2001 Det som er mitt (What is Mine/Punishment ISBN 978-0-446-17818-1)
• 2004 Det som aldri skjer (What never happens/The Final Murder ISBN 978-0-446-57803-5)
• 2006 Presidentens valg (Madam President/Death in Oslo ISBN 978-0751537161)
• 2009 Pengemannen (Moneyman)