Anja Knauer was born in Hamburg on March 18, 1979. At the age of 17, she was discovered by director Martin Gies who cast her in his TV drama "Kleine Einbrecher" (1996). Following her debut, Knauer started taking acting lessons and subsequently starred in numerous TV productions, including the thriller "Die Angst in meinem Herzen" (1999), the fantasy film "Lenya - Die größte Kriegerin aller Zeiten" (2001) and the disaster movie "Tsunami" (2005).

After her part in Joseph Vilsmaier's history epic "Die Gustloff" (2008, TV), she was the female lead in "Meine Tochter und der Millionär" (2009) and played a supporting role in the theatrical release "Résiste – Aufstand der Praktikanten" ("Resist! – Rebellion of the Interns"). From 2008 until 2011, Knauer had a recurring role in the TV series "Volles Haus". Following her turn as a deaf girl in the romantic comedy "Die letzte Lüge" ("The Last Lie", 2011), she played the mother of a kidnapped baby in "Liebe, Babys und gestohlenes Glück" (2012, TV) and a teacher in "Tödliche Versuchung" (2013, TV).

The 2016 romantic comedy "Gut zu Vögeln" marked Anja Knauer's first leading role in a theatrical release. In the film, she plays a society journalist who is dumped by her fiancé and ends up living in a shared flat with a notorious womanizer.