Katenin received a home education and in 1806 began his service in the Department of Public Education as a junker. Two years later, he became a titular counselor. In 1808 and 1809, he attended A. N. Olenin's salon, where he met K. N. Batishchev, N. I. Gnedich, and A. A. Shakhovsky, and also participated in amateur performances.

From 1810, Katenin served in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment as a portupey-ensign. He participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns, and in 1818 he was promoted to colonel.

From late 1816, Katenin became a member of the Decembrist Union of Salvation and one of the leaders of the secret organization Military Society. In 1820, he was removed from service for political reasons and retired with the rank of colonel. In 1822, after a scandal at a theatrical performance, he was exiled from St. Petersburg by the emperor's order. He spent three years at the Shaevo estate in Kostroma province. In 1833, Katenin returned to the army and served in the Caucasus until 1838, after which he retired with the rank of major general and lived in his village in Kostroma province.

Katenin was buried in the village of Boreyevo in Chukhloma district, and in 1955, his remains were transferred to Chukhloma.

His literary activity began before the Patriotic War of 1812 with the publication in the magazine "Tsvetnik" in 1810. He translated works by Bion, Hessner, Virgil, Goethe, F. Schiller, Ariosto, and others. In 1811, a revised version of Thomas Corneille's tragedy "Ariadne" was staged by him. Katenin led one of the trends of Decembrist romanticism, and his ballads, such as "Natasha," "The Murderer," "Leshy," and "Olga," sparked controversy due to their distinction from the poetry of Karamzinists and V. A. Zhukovsky. His focus on Russian life and colloquial speech brought him closer to A. S. Shishkov and was connected with the Decembrist idea of nationality in literature.

Katenin was a close literary ally of A. S. Griboedov and V. K. Kyukhelbeker. The comedy "Student" (1817) is considered a joint work of Griboedov and Katenin, although his involvement may have been limited to editing. In the 1810s-1820s, he actively wrote for the theater, adapting works by J. Racine, P. Corneille, and other French playwrights. Katenin's only original tragedy "Andromache" was staged in 1827. He was also a theater educator, with V. A. Karatygin among his students. Katenin was a regular contributor to the "Literary Gazette," and his memoirs about Pushkin were published in 1934.