The future "MacGyver" (1985) and "Stargate SG-1" (1997) star was born on January 23, 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His father, Stuart Anderson, was a teacher at a local high school teacher and his mother, Jocelyn, was an artist who was talented in both sculpting and painting. He and his two younger brothers, Thomas John and James Stuart, grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis called Roseville. During his childhood and teenage years, he developed a love for sports, music (especially jazz) and acting.

Richard dreamed of becoming a professional hockey player as a teenager, a dream shared by his future "Stargate SG-1" (1997) co-star Michael Shanks. However, this was not to be as, at age sixteen, he broke both of his arms in separate incidents, the second of which was so bad that he had to be hospitalised for three months. Although his dream became an impossibility, he never lost his love for the sport. Richard was very much a restless teenager, having many adventures hitch-hiking on the open road. This sense of adventure is most evident from his 5,641 mile bicycle trip from his home in Minnesota to Alaska. While accompanied by several friends at the beginning of this trip, he travelled the last thirty-three days alone. This experience gave him a more centred sense of direction in his life.

After studying drama at St. Cloud State University and at Ohio University without completing his degree), he briefly moved to New York before settling in Los Angeles where he worked as a juggler, a street-mime and in a Renaissance-style cabaret. He worked briefly in Marineland where his jobs included holding fish in his mouth which killer whales would leap up and catch. Subsequently, he appeared in plays and formed a rock band called "Rick Dean and the Dante" with his friend Carl Dante for which he sang and play the guitar.

His big break came in 1976 when he was cast in the popular daytime drama "General Hospital" (1963) as Dr. Jeff Webber. He continued to portray the role for five years until he felt it was time to move on to primetime drama. He made numerous guest appearances in series such as "The Facts of Life" (1979) and "The Love Boat" (1977) and was cast as the star in two CBS series, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1982) and "Emerald Point N.A.S." (1983), however both only lasted one season.

His next big success came in 1985 when he won the role as the title character in the ABC adventure series "MacGyver" (1985). He was cast because the producers were impressed by the lack of pretension he showed at his audition. As he is nearsighted, it was necessary for him to wear his glasses for the reading. The series lasted seven seasons and ran for 139 episodes. It was hugely successful throughout its run and continues to be popular all over the world. He reprised his role in two TV movies, MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis (1994) (TV) and MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (1994) (TV) which were produced by his own production company, Gekko Film Corp, which he co-founded with Michael Greenburg.

Having made a huge impression in Ordinary Heroes (1986) as a blinded Vietnam veteran struggling to rebuild his life in America, he moved on to TV-movies after "MacGyver" (1985) ended such as In the Eyes of a Stranger (1992) (TV), Through the Eyes of a Killer (1992) (TV) , Beyond Betrayal (1994) (TV), Past the Bleachers (1995) (TV) and Pandora's Clock (1996) (TV). He was particularly impressive in Past the Bleachers (1995) (TV) in which he played a grieving father struggling to come to terms with his young son's death.

He returned to series television in 1995 when he was cast as Ernest Platt/Nicodemus Legend in "Legend" (1995), which like his previous series was an adventure series aired on ABC. He also served as executive producer of the series where one of his co-stars was his close friend John de Lancie. His character was a dime novelist (Platt) who took on the persona of the protagonist in his novels (Legend). The series was primarily a comedy, a blend of the Western and science fiction. It is also Richard's favourite role to date.

He found major success again when cast as Colonel (later Brigadier General) Jack O'Neill in "Stargate SG-1" (1997), an adventure/science fiction series based on the blockbuster Stargate (1994) starring Kurt Russell and James Spader. The series began filming in Vancouver on February 19, 1997 and premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997. The series has remained extremely successful since then which eventually resulting in the creation of a spin-off series "Stargate: Atlantis" (2004) in 2004 and a video game Stargate SG-1: The Alliance (2005) (VG) in 2005. Both series currently air on the Sci-Fi Channel. There have been rumours of a film and another spin-off series in recent years. Richard's role in the series was substantially reduced in its seventh and eighth seasons which culminating in his departure from the series in 2005.

He has never married but his dated many women including actresses Teri Hatcher, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sela Ward and German ice-skater Katarina Witt. Since 1996, his partner has been Apryl Prose who is the mother of his only child, Wylie Quinn Annarose Anderson who was born on August 2, 1998. Like her father and grandfather (who passed away in 2003), she is fond of jazz. Because of his young daughter, he has temporarily taken a break from acting in order to spend time with her and help her develop.

Richard has made it a point throughout his career in choosing roles that demonstrate his versatility as an actor. Many of his characters, particularly MacGyver and O'Neill, are strong characters, although tormented by personal tragedies such as the death of family members and friends, can continue on bravely and valiantly.