介绍：Nolte was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Helen (née King), a department store buyer, and Franklin A. Nolte, a farmer's son who worked in irrigation pump sales and who was an All-American football player at Iowa State University in 1934. Nolte's father was of German descent. Nolte's maternal grandfather, Matthew Leander King, invented the hollow-tile silo and was prominent in early aviation. His maternal grandmother ran the student union at Iowa State University. He has an older sister, Nancy, who was an executive for the Red Cross.

Nolte went to Omaha Benson High School, where he was the kicker on the football team. Nolte got kicked out of Benson for digging a hole and hiding beer before practice and then getting caught drinking it during a practice session. After his expulsion, he attended Westside High School in Omaha. He also attended Pasadena City College. Nolte went on to attend Arizona State University (on a football scholarship); Eastern Arizona College, Thatcher, Arizona; and Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona. At Eastern Arizona Nolte lettered in football as a tight end and defensive end, in basketball as a forward, and as a catcher on the baseball team. Poor grades eventually ended his studies, at which point his career in theatre began in earnest. While in college, Nolte worked for the Falstaff Brewery in Omaha. In 1965, he was arrested for selling counterfeit documents and was given a 45-year jail sentence and a $75,000 fine, however the sentence was suspended. The conviction prevented him from joining the army--at the time, he felt obliged to serve in the Vietnam War as his father had served in World War Two. As a result, Nolte says he felt incomplete as a young man for not going to Vietnam. After stints at the Pasadena Playhouse and Stella Adler's Academy in Los Angeles, Nolte spent several years traveling the country and working in regional theaters.