Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the youngest of 7 children, Lykken joined the United States Navy at 17 and then attended University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill, earning his bachelor of arts (psychology, philosophy and mathematics) 1949, his masters degree in psychology and statistics in 1952, and his doctorate in clinical psychology and neuropsychiatry in 1955. He remained on Minnesota’s permanent faculty for his entire career and taught as a visiting professor at Deep Springs College. He was an emeritus professor from1998 until his death.