Born premature in the seventh month at Vilayanchathanoor village in Palakkad, the sickly child who spent most of his early years confined to his room would grow to become the most transformative voice in modern Malayalam literature. Largely homeschooled, O.V. Vijayan didn't begin formal schooling until age twelve, joining directly into sixth grade.

After graduating from Victoria College, Palakkad and earning a master's degree in English literature from Presidency College, Madras, he began as a college lecturer. But the pull of a larger canvas proved irresistible. In 1958, he left Kerala for Delhi, joining the legendary Shankar's Weekly as a cartoonist and political satirist — beginning a dual career that would see philosophy and politics merge in his cartoons, while revolution and spirituality coalesced in his writings.

His ideological journey — from committed communist to anarchist to spiritual seeker — mirrored the trajectory of post-independence India itself. Yet through every transformation, one thing remained constant: his fierce, unrelenting distrust of state power. He was, as critics have noted, a perpetual dissident whose dissidence ran deep into his language and creative personality.