Robin McKinley was born as Jennifer Carolyn Robin McKinley on November 16, 1952 in Warren, Ohio. Her father William McKinley was an officer in the United States Navy and her mother Jeanne Turrell McKinley was a teacher. As a result of her father’s changing naval posts, McKinley grew up all over the world, including in California, New York, Japan, and Maine. She was educated at Gould Academy, a preparatory school in Bethel, Maine. McKinley went on to attend college, first at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1970–1972 and later at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where she graduated summa cum laude in 1975.

Robin McKinley lives in Hampshire, England. Her husband was author Peter Dickinson; they were married from 1991 until his death in 2015. They had no children, though Dickinson had children from his first marriage. McKinley currently has two dogs, and her many “obsessions” include learning Japanese, playing the piano, horseback riding, gardening, cooking, and bell ringing.