Lincoln was born in London. He is the son of a civil engineer father and a nurse mother. His family moved to Kingston upon Hull when he was 18 months old. Then they moved to Bath, Somerset when he was eight or nine. He attended Beechen Cliff School. He had his first acting role at the age of 14 as the Artful Dodger in a school production of "Oliver!". He spent a summer at the National Youth Theatre in London. He became interested in acting as a career. After leaving school, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). He began to use "Andrew Lincoln" as his stage name.