Gärderud was born to an orienteering competitor, and was an accomplished orienteer himself, winning a team gold medal at the 1977 Swedish Championships. He initially trained in orienteering and changed sports by chance – he was banned from running in the woods in autumn 1961 due to a jaundice epidemic and wandered into an athletic hall.[3]
Gärderud experimented with several events before focusing on the 3000 m steeplechase.[1] His first major competition were the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the heats of 800 m and 1500 m. In the following years, Gärderud concentrated on the steeplechase, and was already a main favorite at the 1972 Summer Olympics, but, suffering from a cold, he was eliminated in his heat. Gärderud was also eliminated in the heats of the 5000 m at the Olympics,[1] but only seven days later, he set a new 3000 m steeplechase world record at 8:20.8.[2]
After retiring from competitions Gärderud worked as a TV commentator of athletics events and as the head coach of the Swedish athletics team.[1][3][4] In 1986 he married Annika Johansson.[7]