Van der Pol's family moved to her mother's native United States when she was three years old, and she retains dual citizenship between the Netherlands and the United States.

Van der Pol attended Ramona Elementary School in Bellflower, California. She began acting in third grade and graduated from the theater program of the acclaimed Orange County High School of the Arts. She later attended Bellflower High School. In 1999, van der Pol played Sandy Dumbrowsky in the Huntington Beach Playhouse revival of Grease, which earned her a Bobbi Award for "Best Actress in a Musical." She played Eva Perón in the Buena Park Civic Theatre production of Evita in 1999 and received positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times. At the age of fifteen, she is also the youngest actresses in Theatrical History to play the role in a professional production.

Van der Pol subsequently starred as "Laurey" in an Austin, Texas, musical theatre production of Oklahoma! from 2000 to 2001. Her performance earned her both an Austin Critics Table Award nomination for "Best Actress in a Musical" and an B. Iden Payne Nomination for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical".

In 2002, she was cast as Chelsea Daniels, the best friend of the title character on the Disney Channel's That's So Raven, a role which she portrayed from 2002 to 2007. Just as the first season of "That's So Raven" began, she went back to Austin Musical Theatre to perform in "Celebrate: AMT," a performance highlighting all the shows the company had done up to then. She was a featured soloist. Van der Pol also appeared on the Disney Channel Games as a member of the Red Team; her teammates were Zac Efron, Kay Panabaker, Dylan Sprouse, Shin Koyamada, and Moises Arias. She was originally offered the role of Kim Possible but chose not to take the part. Anneliese also had a supporting role in Bratz: The Movie as Avery, a mean popular girl and best-friend to the main antagonist.

Van der Pol is a soprano and is trained in the belting vocal technique and has a range of 3.5 octaves. In 2004, she recorded the song "Over It" for the Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs. Her second solo recording, called "A Day in the Sun," a cover originally sung by Hilary Duff, appeared on the album That's So Raven Too!. Van der Pol has been associated with several other Disney music projects, including the Elton John song "Circle of Life" for a special edition of The Lion King DVD, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" for the Cinderella: Special Edition DVD, and "Candle on the Water" from Pete's Dragon on DisneyMania 4.

Van der Pol is one of only three cast members of That's So Raven (along with T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh and Rondell Sheridan) not to star in a Disney Channel Original Movie, although she is the only cast member to star in a Walt Disney Theatrical Production.

On July 10, 2006, van der Pol was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. Officers said she was arrested after hitting a parked car and several other cars. According to court documents, van der Pol was driving with a 0.19 blood-alcohol level, more than twice California's legal limit of 0.08. In 2007, she pleaded "no contest" to the charges and received 36 months probation and a penalty of $2,844 in fines and assessments. She was also required to attend an alcohol education program. Van der Pol's probation ended in March 2010.

In February 2007, it was announced van der Pol would be making her Broadway debut as Belle, in Beauty and the Beast. Van der Pol was the musical's 17th (and final) Belle. She played the role from April 3, 2007 to July 29, 2007 as the show reached its 5,464th (and final) performance. During her run as Belle, van der Pol also performed at Bryant Park's Broadway in Bryant Park on July 12, 2007 along Beauty and the Beast co-stars Chris Hoch and Jeanne Lehmann, performing songs from the show. Prior to Beauty's final show, van der Pol appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly for a small interview discussing her Broadway debut and experiences with the show. She also discussed the origins of her name, and performed Beauty 's "A Change in Me." Van der Pol was the last actress to portray the role of "Belle" in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.

In May 2008, it was revealed that van der Pol would play the role of Kathy in the new musical, Vanities, A New Musical. She originated the role of Kathy during the musical's Broadway previews in Pasadena, California from August 22, 2008 to September 28, 2008. Originally, the musical was scheduled to begin performances on Broadway February 2, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre with an official opening on February 26, 2009 but the show's Broadway run was postponed due to the economic turmoil in the US and to focus on the future of the musical. The show then made its New York City debut Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre on July 2, 2009 in previews, and officially opened on July 16, 2009. Performances continued through August 9, 2009. On August 21, 2009, she started recording the Original Cast Album for the musical alongside Lauren Kennedy and Sarah Stiles. The album was later released with Sh-k-Boom Records on December 15, 2009.

As of July 2009, she stated she had received her fourth call-back for the role of Glinda in Wicked on Broadway. Van der Pol is stated to appear in a twelve part Jewish version of Sesame Street called Shalom Sesame. The series is scheduled to debut during the Hanukkah holiday in December 2010.