Russell Libby was born in Lincoln, Maine and grew up in Sorrento, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College and earned a graduate degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Maine. He worked for the National Center for Economic Alternatives and the Maine Department of Agriculture. He was director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) from 1995 to 2012 and also ran Three Sisters' Farm in Mount Vernon, Maine.