Harold Courlander nació el 18 de septiembre de 1908 en Indianápolis, Indiana, EE.UU.. Estuvo casado con Emma Meltzer y Ella Schneiderman. Murió el 15 de marzo de 1996 en Bethesda, Maryland, Estados Unidos.
He had two children with his second wife, Emma: son, Michael (born in 1951); and daughter, Susan Jean (born in 1955; died in 2002). He also had a daughter, Erika (born in 1940), with his first wife, Ella.