Donald Baechler was born in Hartfort, Connecticut in 1956. In 1974 Baechler began to study art at the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore for 2 years. Subsequently, Donald Baechler went to New York City to study at the Cooper Union until 1978.
In 1978 Baechler went to Europe, where he studied at the Frankfurt am Main academy of applied arts ("Städelschule") until 1979. In 2004 Donald Baechler taught as a lecturer at the Vienna "Sommerakademie".
Donald Baechler lives and works in New York City.