Scott O'Dell was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 23, 1903. His father worked on the railroad, and the family moved often throughout California.

O'Dell attended Occidental College, the University of Wisconsin, and Stanford University, but never found college rewarding. In 1925 he took a job as a cameraman, working on the original motion picture version of Ben-Hur, and took courses at the University of Rome. He joined the U.S. Air Force during World War II and later became a book editor for a Los Angeles newspaper.