Ivan Anušić was born on 13 October 1973 in Osijek. He graduated from the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Zagreb. He is married and has four children.
Since 2023, he has served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Republic of Croatia. Prior to that, from 2017 to 2023, he served as Prefect of Osijek-Baranja County. He was also a Member of the Croatian Parliament during its 8th and 9th terms. During the 9th term, he served as Chair of the War Veterans Committee and as a member of the Defence Committee, while during the 8th term he was Deputy Chair of the National Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy, as well as a member of the Agriculture Committee and the Committee on Regional Development and European Union Funds.
From 2005 to 2017, he served as Mayor of the Municipality of Antunovac, and from 2002 to 2005, he was a coach and President of the Antunovac Kickboxing Club.
In 1991, at the age of 17, he left high school to volunteer in the Croatian Homeland War. During the war and post-war period, he served as a member of the National Guard Corps, the 106th and 130th Brigades, the Special Police of the Ministry of the Interior, the Military Police, and the 3rd Guards Brigade of the Croatian Armed Forces. As a Croatian Homeland War veteran, he was awarded the Homeland War Commemorative Medal for his participation in the military and police Operation Bljesak, as well as other commendations and awards.