Rud Thygesen graduated from the Royal Danish Academy in 1966 and founded a design studio with Johnny Sørensen during the same year.
In 1968 Thygesen and Sørensen designed the Kongemøblerna (eng. The Kings furniture) a collection of furniture in a strict geometrical design produced by Botium. Many of the duo’s furniture has been used in public spaces, both nationally and internationally, such as the café chair Partout from 1996 that was made for Copenhagen airport. Thygesen & Sørensen's works for the Danish manufacturer Magnus Olesen are the their most prolific. Thygesen also collaborated with Kasper Salto.
Sørensen and Thygesen are represented at a.o. the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and at the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm. In 1992 Rud Thygesen was awarded the Bruno Mathsson prize and the Japanese G Prize. He passed away at the age of 87 in 2019.