Rollie Graham was born May 16, 1914, in Avoca, Nebraska. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1936 with an A.B. degree in journalism. His first job was on the Lincoln Journal as a market editor.
He later worked for the Scottsbluff Star Herald, the Mineral Wells (Texas) Index, and then joined the University of Nebraska staff as experiment station editor in 1947. In 1963, he was named chairman of the agricultural communications department, where he also served as extension editor. He is a member of Sigma Delta Chi. Graham retired in 1979.