Jorge Allende was born in Cartago, Costa Rica, son of Octavio Allende Echeverría, Chilean Consul in the city of Puntarenas, and Amparo Rivera Ortiz, a Costa Rican artist. Because of his father's job as a diplomat, he spent his childhood years between Costa Rica, Chile and the United States. He finished high school in a Jesuit School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where his father was appointed as the Chilean Consul.  Subsequently, he studied at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He obtained the Bachelor of Science in chemistry degree in 1957.