Wilhelm Ludwig von Küchelbecker was born on June 10, 1797, in St. Petersburg to a family of Russian-German nobility and was a Lutheran. His childhood was spent in Livonia, at the Avenorm estate, where he did not speak Russian until the age of six. In 1808, thanks to a recommendation from a distant relative, M. B. Barclay de Tolly, he entered the private boarding school of Brinkmann in the city of Verro and graduated with a silver medal.

In 1811, again on Barclay de Tolly's recommendation, Wilhelm was admitted to the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. There he studied alongside A. S. Pushkin, I. I. Pushchin, A. A. Delvig, and A. M. Gorchakov. Wilhelm showed an interest in poetry and began publishing in the magazines 'Amphion' and 'Son Otechestva' in 1815. In 1817, he graduated from the lyceum with a silver medal and the rank of IX class, after which he was enrolled in the Collegium of Foreign Affairs along with Pushkin. From 1817 to 1820, he taught Russian and Latin at the Noble Boarding School of the Main Pedagogical Institute, where his students included Mikhail Glinka and Lev Pushkin. In 1820, he retired and went abroad as secretary to the chief chamberlain A. L. Naryshkin. In Paris, he lectured on the Slavic language and Russian literature, which were halted at the request of the Russian embassy. Soon after, he returned to Russia.

Küchelbecker was a member of the Masonic lodge of Mikhail the Chosen of Great Astraea until its closure in 1822. From late 1821 to May 1822, he served in the Caucasus, where he met A. S. Griboedov. After a duel with N. N. Pokhvisnev, he was forced to leave the service and return to Russia, where he spent a year at his sister Y. K. Glinka's estate. In 1823, he moved to Moscow and taught at the Kister women's boarding school.

In 1825, Küchelbecker moved to St. Petersburg and lived with his brother Mikhail, and later with Prince A. I. Odoyevsky. Since 1817, he had been part of the secret pre-Decembrist organization 'Sacred Artel', and two weeks before the uprising on December 14, 1825, he was introduced to the Northern Secret Society. On the day of the uprising, he was on Senate Square with the rebels, but after the defeat, he attempted to flee abroad. However, he was arrested in Prague and brought back to St. Petersburg, where he was placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Küchelbecker was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor, but the term was reduced to 15 years. He was transferred to various fortresses and then sent to settle in Barguzin. There he continued his literary activities and married Drosida Ivanovna Artenova. In 1839, he was transferred to Akshinskaya Fortress, and then to Kurgan, where he lost his sight and lived until the end of his days. Wilhelm Küchelbecker died of tuberculosis on August 11, 1846, in Tobolsk and was buried at the Zavalnoye Cemetery.

After his death, his sister Y. K. Glinka took his children into her care, who later regained their father's surname. Küchelbecker's widow sold their house in Kurgan and moved to relatives, where she received assistance from the treasury and the Literary Fund.