Manfred Jurgensen was born of German-Danish background and became an Australian citizen in 1965. Having received his secondary education in Germany (Flensburg Grammar), Britain and the USA, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in English and German and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from Zürich University and a Doctor of Letters (DLitt.) degree (1991) from the University of Queensland. From 1973-1981 Jurgensen was Associate Professor of German Literature at the University of Queensland, then Professor 1981-1999 and after his retirement in 1999 Emeritus Professor. As an academic he held many fellowships overseas and acted as a visiting professor at the various universities and places, among them Witwatersrand Johannesburg (1978), Cologne (1978-1979), Basle (1982) and Berlin (1987-1988). From 1972 he has been an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow and from 1986 a Fellow of the World Literary Academy.

Apart from his creative work, Jurgensen has written a number of critical books and articles, mainly on German literature, but also some on Germans in Australia, multiculturalism and on Australian writing. He founded and edited the journal Outrider (1984-1996), had his own publishing house (Phoenix Publications), and edited a number of anthologies of Australian writing (such as Cheating and Other Infidelities 1995, and A Sporting Declaration 1996). His work has been read on radio and television and by himself at many public venues.