Philip Tetlock was born in Canada and did his undergraduate work at the University of British Columbia and his doctoral work at Yale University (PhD, 1979). He has served on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, currently as Annenberg University Professor (appointments in Wharton, psychology, and political science), University of California, Berkeley (Mitchell Endowed Chair in the Haas School), and The Ohio State University (Burt Endowed Chair in psychology and political science). He has also been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford) and the Russell Sage Foundation.

He has received the following awards from professional and scientific organizations: the American Psychological Association, American Political Science Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, International Society of Political Psychology, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He's published roughly 200 articles in peer-refereed journals and edited or written 10 books.