Ole Adolf Anderson was born in Sweden on May 18, 1857. He came to the United States in 1880 and likely worked on the railroad until 1883. Sometime during that year he arrived in Yellowstone National Park and established a specimen coating business at Mammoth Hot Springs. Anderson would take small objects and place them in the hot water basins at Mammoth to be coated with the minerals contained in the water. The resulting curios were then sold as souvenirs to Yellowstone tourists. At first he sold the curiosities out of a tent at the base of the Mammoth Hot Spring terraces, but eventually he built a frame store and residence between the Cottage Hotel and the U.S. Commissioner's residence. Anderson's activities were officially recognized by the Park when he was granted a permit to continue his operations in 1889. In 1890 he purchased a home in Helena, Montana, and he married Christina E. Granlund in 1891. The couple had three sons: Arthur, Roy, and Carl. Although he was licensed by the Park to only sell his coated specimens, Anderson purchased cameras and equipment shortly after completing his store building in 1896 and may have intended to compete with F.J. Haynes, the official photographer of Yellowstone. It is not known if Ole offered for sale any of his subsequent Yellowstone images, but he produced many large format glass plate negatives, stereoview negatives, and nitrate negatives of wildlife, Mammoth Hot Springs, and other Yellowstone features prior to 1908. During that year Anderson sold his specimen business and moved his family to Helena where he died on August 15, 1915.