Tony Hillerman was born in Sacred Heart, OK on May 27, 1925. He was the youngest of three children, having an older brother and sister. His father, August A. Hillerman, was a storekeeper and farmer. His mother was Lucy Grove Hillerman.

He attended school from 1930-38 at St. Mary's Academy, a boarding school for Native American girls at Sacred Heart. He was one of several farm boys enrolled there. Sacred Heart was near a Benedictine mission to the Citizen Band Potowatomie Tribe. For high school, he was bused to Konawa High School. He graduated in 1942. He returned to farming after a brief sojourn to college and after his father's death.

In 1943, he joined the U. S. Army, serving in combat in World War II. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Purple Heart after being wounded in 1945. (These injuries included broken legs, foot, ankle, facial burns, and temporary blindness.) He was discharged in 1945.

After the war, he attended the University of Oklahoma, receiving a B. A. in 1948.

He married Marie Unzner in 1948, to whom he is still married. They have six grown children.

From 1948-1962, he worked in a variety of journalist positions. He was a reporter for the Borger News Herald in Borger, TX (1948), city editor for the Morning Press-Constitution in Lawton, OK (1948-50), political reporter for UPI in Oklahoma City (1950-52), UPI bureau manager in Santa Fe, NM (1952-4), political reporter and then, editor for the Santa Fe New Mexican (1954-63).

In 1963, he returned to graduate school in English at the University of New Mexico. He was an assistant to the University president at the same time. He joined the journalism faculty of UNM in 1966 after receiving his M.A. He taught there until 1987, serving as department chair from 1976-81.

Although he says he feels great for the shape he's in, his health has been a concern. He told PBS in 1996, " I am 71, have now- and-then rhematic arthritis but now very badly, have in-remission cancer, have had a minor heart attack, have one mediocre eye, one tricky ankle and two unreliable knees due to being blown up in WWII. "

His memoirs were published in October, 2001. It won the Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction.

He resides in Albuquerque, NM.

Some words of Tony Hillerman about his writing

"Having grown up at Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, with Potawatomie and Seminole kids as friends, playmates, competitors, etc., I grew up knowing that the only difference between me and them was very marginal and totally cultural. Race wasn't a factor. Location and economics made the difference. The "us" of the "us and them" factor were a mixed-bag of white and Indian kids who's parents were trying to make a living farming. We wore overalls, work shoes, rode the school bus, carried sack lunches. The "them" were the town kids, some white, some Indian, who wore belt pants, lowcut shoes, bought their lunches at the school store, knew how to shoot pool, etc. We, on the other hand, were better shots, better at riding, and thought we could whip the town boys (until we tried.) In other words, race wasn't the issue. It was culture.