Peter William Krause was born on August 12, 1965, in Alexandria, Minnesota. Both his parents were teachers, and he has a sister and brother. He was raised in Roseville, Minnesota. He graduated in 1987 from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, with a degree in English literature. In 1990, he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.
Krause's first role was in a horror movie
Blood Harvest (1987). On
Carol & Company (1990), he appeared opposite
Carol Burnett and
Richard Kind. It was an anthology comedy series, with actors playing different characters each week. After it ended in 1991, he guest starred on
The Limo (1992) as Tim, a white supremacist, and on
Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990) in a recurring role. In 1995, he appeared in starring and recurring roles on two short-lived shows,
The Great Defender (1995) and
If Not for You (1995). He also guest starred on
Ellen (1994),
University Hospital (1995),
Caroline in the City (1995),
Brotherly Love (1995),
The Drew Carey Show (1995) and
Party of Five (1994). He also got a major recurring role as Cybill's son-in-law, Kevin Blanders on
Cybill (1995). Around the same time, he also appeared in a romantic comedy
Lovelife (1997) opposite
Saffron Burrows,
Bruce Davison and
Carla Gugino, and in
A Friend in Dick (1997).
In 1998, he appeared in three movies, including
The Truman Show (1998). He also got a starring role on ABC's comedy
Sports Night (1998), created by
Aaron Sorkin. He played sports anchor Casey McCall, opposite
Josh Charles,
Felicity Huffman and
Joshua Malina, until the show's cancellation in 2000. After "Sports Night", he got a another starring role, on HBO's
Six Feet Under (2001), created by
Alan Ball. He received three Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes nominations for his role as funeral director Nate Fisher, the son of Ruth (
Frances Conroy) and the brother of David (
Michael C. Hall) and Claire (
Lauren Ambrose). During a break from "Six Feet Under" in 2004, he also appeared in
We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) opposite
Laura Dern and
Mark Ruffalo and played a part on Broadway. After "Six Feet Under" ended in 2005, he appeared in the miniseries
The Lost Room (2006) opposite
Julianna Margulies and
Elle Fanning as the lead Joe Miller and played the lead and produced the thriller
Civic Duty (2006). In 2007, he got yet another lead on
Dirty Sexy Money (2007) as the lawyer of one of New York City's wealthiest families, opposite
Donald Sutherland,
William Baldwin and
Natalie Zea. Krause was also a producer on the show, but unfortunately, it ended in 2009, after two seasons.
After "Dirty Sexy Money" ended, Krause did not stay idle long, when he received the lead on
Parenthood (2010) as Adam Braverman, opposite
Lauren Graham,
Craig T. Nelson and
Bonnie Bedelia. "Parenthood" ended in 2015 after six seasons. In 2016, he was cast in ABC's crime drama,
The Catch (2016), produced by
Shonda Rhimes. The series lasted for two seasons and he played a con artist, who is being chased by a private investigator (
Mireille Enos'), whom he defrauded. In 2017, he was cast in a leading role on FOX's
9-1-1 (2018), created by
Ryan Murphy. He plays an LAFD fire captain Bobby Nash, opposite
Angela Bassett. He also serves as an executive producer of the series.