Theodore Huebner Roethke was born in Saginaw Michigan on May 25, 1908 to a German immigrant, Otto Roethke. He spent much of his childhood in his family's large greenhouse and these experiences are reflected in his use of natural images in his poetry. His childhood, however, was clouded by his fathers death from cancer in 1923 and his uncles suicide. These two events proved instrumental in the shaping of Roethke's psyche and poetic creativity.

He went on to attend the University of Michigan where he briefly enrolled in law school and attained a B.A. and M.A. before entering Harvard University where he studied under poet Robert Hillyer. Forced by economic reasons to abandon graduate studies, he became a professor of English teaching at several universities including Lafayette College, Pennsylvania State University, Bennington College and University of Washington.

In 1940, he was expelled from his position at Lafayette and returned to Michigan. Just before his return, he engaged in an affair with established poet and critic Louise Bogan who would go on to become one of his strongest early supporters. While teaching at Michigan State University he suffered the beginnings of manic depression which he utilized as a creative impetus for his poetry. His final teaching position was at the University of Washington which led to an association with the poets of the American Northwest.

In 1953, Roethke married a former student, Beatrice O'Connell. Roethke suffered a heart attack in a friend's swimming pool in 1963 and died on Bainbridge Island, Washington at the age of 55.

Among the many awards he received for his writing were the Pulitzer prize for "The Waking" in 1954, and the National Book Award in 1965 for his posthumous collection, The Far Field.

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