Andreas Hovgaard was the son of Ole Anton Hovgaard (1821-1891) and Louise Charlotte Munch (1823-1872).
In 1882 Hovgaard led the Dijmphna Expedition, an Arctic survey expedition to explore the unknown northeastern limits of the Kara Sea on steamship Dijmphna, financed by Danish trader Augustin Gamél (1839-1904) who would also later assist Fridtjof Nansen.