He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was a grandson of architect, sculptor and painter
Wilhelm von Hanno (1826-1882). His grandfather had operated a drawing school in Kristiania which was later operated his father Albert Oscar von Hanno (1862-1938). He was a student at the
Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry in 1920 and at the
Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts 1920–22. He spent a couple of semesters at the painting school of
Pola Gauguin (1883–1961) from 1923. His first solo exhibition was at Blomqvist Kunsthandel in 1924. Throughout his artistic career, von Hanno worked as an educator. Carl von Hanno was head teacher at the
Oslo School of Architecture and Design 1937–51. {{cite web|url=https://nbl.snl.no/Carl_Von_Hanno|title= Carl Von Hanno ==References==