Keith Laumer was born in 1925 in Syracuse, New York. He attended Indiana University, 1943-44, and then served in the United States Army Air Forces in the Second World War in Europe. He later attended Stockholm University, 1948-49, and then received a bachelor's degree in architecture in 1950 from the University of Illinois. He served twice in the US Air Force, 1953-56 and 1960-65, attaining the rank of Captain in the latter tour. In between the two terms in the military, Laumer was a member of the US Foreign Service in Burma.