Sadovnichiy was born in the village Krasnopavlovka in Kharkiv Oblast, now in Ukraine. He graduated from the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University and defended his doctoral thesis in 1974. In 1975 he became Professor, since 1982 until the present day he is the head of the Mathematical Analysis chair of the department. He held different offices in the administration of the University until he was elected the rector in 1992. In 1996, 2001 and 2005 Sadovnichiy was reelected without any other candidates.