Hans Sandberg was born in 1953 and grew up in Stockholm, Sweden as the second of three sons to Constance and Harald Sandberg. He studied political science at Uppsala University in the spring of 1974 and set out on a 3 ½ month overland journey to India that autumn. He continued his studies at Stockholm University, majoring in economics and economic history. While studying at the university he was the editor of a political student magazine, later working as a journalist for Dagens Nyheter, Sweden’s largest daily newspaper. Early in 1985, he became a reporter for the weekly newspaper Computer Sweden. In April that year, he left for a two-month independent journey to China, where he collected material for a series of articles about its economic and political reforms, as well as its emerging IT sector. He returned to China in September 1986 and a month into this journey he met his American wife, Lisa. They married in August 1987 and settled in the United States.
In the US, Hans worked as a foreign correspondent for Swedish and Scandinavian newspapers and magazines, initially focusing on the emerging computer and IT sector. Along with his wife Lisa, he founded the reportage bureau Sandberg Features, producing articles and photos to clients in over twenty countries. In 2004, he became the editor-in-chief for the Swedish-American business magazine Currents. In 2011, he became an editor and technical writer at the R&D division of the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Having retired in 2022, he currently writes novels and non-fiction books.
He lives in Princeton Junction, New Jersey, with his wife Lisa. They have two adult sons, Erik and Alexander.
