Nikolai Zakharovich Biryukov was born on February 1, 1912, in Orekhovo-Zuyevo, now in the Moscow region, in a family of a textile worker. In 1919, when the factory where his father worked ceased production, the family moved to the Volga region, to the lower Syzran meadows. The Civil War and the drought of 1921 left a deep mark in the future writer's memory and later found reflection in his novel "On the Homesteads," published in 1938.

In 1922, the Biryukov family returned to Orekhovo-Zuyevo. Here, 10-year-old Nikolai, along with friends, participated in the creation of one of the first pioneer squads in the USSR. In 1925, he joined the Komsomol and began working at the factory, combining labor with active Komsomol activities. He was impressed by I. V. Stalin's speech at the VIII Congress of the Komsomol in 1928, calling for mastery of science. Until 1931, he studied at the vocational school of the textile combine, at the Moscow workers' faculty named after M. I. Kalinin, and at the construction technical school.

In the autumn of 1930, Biryukov worked on the construction of the Dulyov factory, where there was an accident involving groundwater. Young Komsomol members, including Biryukov, dealt with it in icy water. Soon he fell ill and, at the age of 18, was confined to bed, retaining mobility only in his arms. At that time, there were reports of "criminal doctors" who allegedly did not provide him with the necessary assistance.

In 1931, Biryukov decided to dedicate himself to writing, still unaware of Nikolai Ostrovsky. In 1932, he received second prize at the All-Union competition for young poets for his poem "Countless Victories!" In 1936 and 1940, he studied by correspondence at the A. M. Gorky Literary Institute and simultaneously at the Institute of Foreign Languages. In 1938, his first novel "On the Homesteads" was published in the magazine "October."

During the Great Patriotic War, Biryukov wrote stories and essays about the heroism of Soviet people. Works such as "Before the Breath of Death," "Discipline of the Heart," "Russian Eyes," and "Song in the Forest" gained wide recognition. In the autumn of 1942, he began the novel "Seagull" about Liza Chaikina, which was published in early 1945 and became popular, including at the front. The novel was translated into many languages of the peoples of the USSR and published in socialist countries of Eastern Europe.

In 1949, his new novel "Waters of Naryn" was released, dedicated to the construction of the Great Fergana Canal named after I. V. Stalin. To write the book, Biryukov traveled around Central Asia in a special wheelchair. The novel shows the significance of the construction for the socialist transformation of the economy and culture of the peoples of Central Asia, as well as the role of the Communist Party. In the summer of 1951, he went on a creative business trip, visiting the "Krasnoe Sormovo" factory, the GAZ named after V. M. Molotov, and the construction of the Kuibyshev Hydroelectric Power Station. The result of the trip was the book of essays "On Peaceful Land" published in 1952. In 1959, he wrote the historical-revolutionary novel "Through the Hostile Whirlwinds."

The last 10 years of Biryukov's life were spent in Crimea, and he passed away in Simferopol on January 31, 1966.