Whakakiia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a John Harald Westergaard i te 13 o Oketopa 1927 i Putney, London, ki a Otto raua ko Inger Westergaard; ko ona matua he Danish, a ko tona papa he kaipūkaha whare. I te tau 1938, i te mea ka wehewehea e ona matua, ka neke a Westergaard ki Denmark me tona whaea, ka tukuna ki te kura noho i Copenhagen; ko ana wheako i raro i te
Ko te noho a te Nazi me te piri o tona whaea ki te kaupapa aukati Danish i te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao i akiaki i te whakahee ki te mana me te whakapono ki te hapori. I noho poto ia hei kaitiaki i te British Army of the Rhine, katahi ka oti tana tohu hapori i te London School of Economics (LSE), ka mutu i te tau 1951. He kairangahau ia ki a Ruth Glass i te Whare Wananga o Rānana, i mua i tana neke ki te Whare Wananga o Nottingham mo te tau 1955-56. I hoki mai ia ki te LSE hei kaiwhakaako, a i whakatairangahia ia ki te kaipānui i te hapori i te tau 1970. I te tau 1975, i tohua ia hei kaiwhaiwhai a Keith Kelsall ki te Tiamana mo nga Akoranga Hapori i te Whare Waananga o Sheffield. I reti ia i te tau 1986 i waenga i te whakaheke moni me te heke o nga nama akonga i arahina ai te tohu tohu honore i te hapori ki Sheffield. Ko tana reti wawe <unk> me tera o Eric Sainsbury (Tiamana o te Whakahaere Hauora) <unk> i mahia kia kore ai e ngaro nga kaimahi rangatahi i a raatau mahi. I te wa ano, ko ia ano te Tumuaki Tuarua me te Dean o te Faculty of Social Sciences i Sheffield i waenga i te 1982 me te 1986. I te reti, i piri tonu ia ki te whare wananga hei kaiwhakaako emeritus; i mau ano ia i nga pou manuhiri me te mahi hei perehitini mo te British Sociological Association mai i te 1991 ki te 1993. He Kairangahau hoki ia mo te Whare Wananga o nga Pūtaiao Hapori.