he was born in rose valley, saskatchewan, the son of orla peterson and was educated at the kelsey institute in saskatoon. peterson operated a farm in the rose valley district. in 1973, he married sharon ann wheeler. he served in the provincial cabinet as minister of highways and transportation. peterson was defeated by kenneth kluz when he ran for reelection to the saskatchewan assembly in 1991. after leaving politics, he returned to farming and also operated an air seeder business. in 1993, he ran unsuccessfully for the mackenzie seat in the canadian house of commons.