Anurag Sharma completed higher studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi), ultimately earning a PhD in 1979 in Optical Waveguides. He has remained at IIT Delhi throughout his career, and is today Emeritus Professor at the Optics and Photonics Centre (OPC). The OPC was developed by Sharma and is the first center dedicated to Optics and Photonics at IIT Delhi.

His research has been in the area of modelling and analysis of optical waveguides and imaging devices and components developing several new techniques for propagation of optical rays and waves.

He was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Karlsruhe (now KIT), Germany, and a Senior Associate of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. He was also a Visiting Professor at the University of Saint-Etienne, France.

He received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 1998 for his research contributions. He is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of IIT Delhi. He is a fellow of Optica, all three science academies (INSA, IAS and NASI) in India, and the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE). He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Optical Society of India (OSI). He was the President of the OSI 2018-2021.

In 2024, he was awarded Optica’s Esther Hoffman Beller Award, “For outstanding contributions to optics and photonics teaching, research and leadership and in creating India's first dedicated Optics and Photonics Centre at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.”