Marlene was born the farm Tygerhoek near Caledon, South Cape. She grew up and attended school in Riviersondereind and Stellenbosch, where she matriculated at Hoërskool Bloemhof. She studied languages and philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch and obtained a MA with the thesis: Die aard en belang van die literêre vormgewing in "Also sprach Zarathustra" in 1978.

At university she wrote three plays for the lay theatre. In 1979 she moved to Germany to join theatres in Stuttgart and Mainz as apprentice for directing. From 1980 to 1985 she continued her studies of philosophy in Holland and obtained a PhD with the thesis on the works of Claude Lévi-Strauss and Paul Ricoeur: "Taal en mythe: een structuralistische en een hermeneutische benadering."

Back in South Africa she lectured in philosophy at the University of Zululand, and later at Unisa. Afterwards she was lecturer in Afrikaans and Dutch at the University of Witwatersrand.

Marlene van Niekerk is now Professor at the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, University of Stellenbosch.