Petersen ran away from home at the age of 14 to become a merchant seaman. After working five years at that occupation he settled in New Jersey where he lost his left arm in an accident while working in a sugar plant there. In 1889, he enrolled in the antique classes at the National Academy school, and continued studying there in the antique, life, and painting classes through 1896. He won a number of school awards including the Elliott Bronze Medal and the Suydam Silver Medal. While in school, he continued to work as a night watchman.
In 1890 he began as a draftsman for the Department of Anatomy of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Columbia School of Medicine where he remained until his retirement in 1942.
In 1905 he won the Third Hallgarten Prize at the National Academy, in 1906 the Beal Prize for The Coppersmiths from the New York Watercolor Club, the Innis Prize at the Salmagundi Club (1909) and a prize for Etching from the Society of American Etchers (1934). In 1942 he had his first one man show at Allison Galleries.
He specialized in etching, concentrating on the human figure but also did landscape as well as oils and watercolors.
He was married to Anna Ulricka Nielsen. He was a lecturer on anatomy at the NAD school in 1913 and again in 1919-20.
