Ann Henderson was born near Thurso, Caithness, Scotland on 11 October 1921. She studied sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art from 1940 to 1946 and, with the benefit of a travel scholarship, in the Atelier Gimond at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1947-48. She subsequently worked as a sculptor and taught at Edinburgh College of Art in 1946-47, and from 1950 to 1976. Henderson exhibited frequently at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Edinburgh from 1947 to [posthumously] 1977. She also exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1954, 1955, 1967, 1969 and 1970, and in various group exhibitions including an Arts Council Exhibition in 1964. Henderson was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy (ARSA) in 1968, and a full member of the Academy (RSA) in 1973.