Ricardo Cano Gaviria was born in Medellín in 1946. In 1966 he enrolled at the Universidad de Antioquia, where he studied general studies and sociology. The following year he was an assistant sociology tutor at the same university, which he left during the student strike of 1966.
He lived in France between 1968 and 1969, and he later settled in Spain, where he has lived since 1970. He has worked at Eco, Cuadernos para el Dialogo, la Vanguardia, El Viejo Topo, Quimera, Revista de la Universidad de Antioquia, Revista de Occidente and El Pais (Spain).