Born in Annis, Idaho, March 31, 1895, Vardis Fisher was the son of Joseph and Temperance (Thornton) Fisher. He received his early education from his mother until he was ready for grade 5 or 6 and began attending Poplar elementary school. He attended the high school in Rigby, Idaho where he graduated in 1915. He received his A.B. from the University of Utah in 1920, then attended the University of Chicago where he received his M.A. in 1922 and his Ph.D in 1925.

He married his first wife, a childhood sweetheart Leona McMurtrey, on September 10, 1917. They had two children before she died in 1924. In 1928 he married Margaret Trusler with whom he had one child; they were divorced in 1939. In 1940 he married Opal Laurel Holmes, and lived with her in Hagerman, Idaho, until his death on July 9, 1968.

Following his graduation from the University of Chicago he taught English at University of Utah for several years, then at New York University where he became friendly with Thomas Wolfe. In 1931 he moved back to his father's ranch in Idaho in order to continue writing, and when in 1935 he was named director of the WPA writer's project in Idaho he moved to Boise.

Following his marriage to Opal Holmes in 1940 he built a home near Hagerman, Idaho, where he wrote his monumental Testament of Man series. He wrote novels, historical works, essays, and newspaper columns and was considered Idaho's most prominent and prolific author.