He was born on December 16, 1906 in the village of Stary Merchyk (now Valkivsky district, Kharkiv region) in a working-class family. He studied at school until he was 14, and then started working. He was a messenger at the office, an assistant to a steam turbine driver, a turner's apprentice and a turner.

In January 1925, an extremely capable, inquisitive and serious boy was sent to Kharkiv to study. He successfully graduated from the labor faculty at the Kharkiv Institute of Technology and was enrolled as a 1st-year student of the aviation specialty of the technical faculty. After the establishment of the Kharkiv Aviation Institute, as a student of the aircraft engineering faculty, he designed the Khai-1 and Khai-2 aircraft. Academician Proskura drew attention to the talented young designer.

Anatoly Yeremenko becomes a graduate student of the Department of Aerohydrodynamics, which was headed by a great scientist. Soon, Anatoliy Eremenko was appointed the head of the aerodynamic laboratory, then the deputy dean of the aircraft-building faculty, then the head of the central research workshops. At the same time, he worked part-time as an assistant, then a senior teacher at the Department of Aerohydrodynamics, gave lectures on the following subjects: "Aircraft Mechanics", "Flight Dynamics", "Aircraft Flight Tests". The spectrum of his scientific interests is expanding, Yeremenko takes an active part in the research work of the department on the design and construction of new wind tunnels of the KhAI, on the study of the influence of the rotorcraft of the aircraft on the characteristics of the wing and tail. On this basis, he develops educational and methodical guides for students and new lecture courses.

The experience of organizational and party work came in handy for him during the wartime, which was difficult for the country and the institute. Anatoly Yeremenko headed the KhAI team. Possessing the ability to rally a team that trusted him without limit, Anatoliy Petrovych relocated the Khai to Kazan in the shortest possible time. The evacuation ended in October 1941. The institute was located on the grounds of the Kazan Aviation Institute and soon resumed its work. Academic classes at the new location began on November 15, 1941. Teachers and students provided assistance to the Red Army with their scientific research on military topics and their implementation in production, direct work at defense enterprises during extracurricular hours. In 1942, the question arose about the merger of two aviation institutes into a single Kazan Aviation Institute. "And what about Kharkiv?" Anatoliy Petrovych was indignant. He did not have the slightest doubt that the fascists would be expelled from Ukraine, and he could not imagine Kharkiv without the KHAI. Yeremenko did everything possible to defend the independence of the university.

In April 1944, KHAI under the leadership of Eremenko returned to Kharkiv. The picture that unfolded was terrifying. Educational buildings, a student dormitory, a teacher's residence were destroyed and looted by the occupiers. Eremenko is developing a plan for the revival of the university. Academic classes are temporarily held on the premises of the aviation technical school and in the building of the agricultural institute. The reconstruction of the buildings of the Khai Khai in Pomirky begins. And once again, Anatoliy Eremenko is in time everywhere: both for classes and for construction work to restore destroyed buildings.

The director of KhAI was talked about as a talented organizer in the region, and his opinion is listened to in the city. In March 1946, Yeremenko was elected deputy chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies, continuing to work part-time as a senior lecturer at Khai Khai. In the following years, he served in the authorities: the head of the Radnarkhoz, the minister of light industry of the Ukrainian SSR, the deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR.

This is how veterans of the institute assessed the role of Anatoly Yeremenko in the life of the country's largest higher education institution: "In the KHAI team, you went from a student to the director of one of the best higher education institutions of our Ministry. Your principledness, demandingness in your work towards yourself and those around you, sensitivity to people were the deep foundation on which the business efficiency of the entire university team was formed in the performance of our common task - the education of engineering personnel for the aviation industry ... You were recognized as our stable leader in this harsh time, together with you we guarded the honor of our institute...".

Yeremenko was elected a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR, awarded the Order of Lenin (1945), the "Excellence of the Aviation Industry" badge (1944).