Mike Nowak was raised near the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, the eldest of three brothers and three sisters. His childhood was spent exploring the river, and his earliest recollections were his love of the river and its banks and its wildlife; and he felt an essential part of it all through his sketches of its many moods. He was given a chemistry set at the age of fourteen, which he requested be traded for a painting set. That oil painting set became his primary focus, and the vehicle for expressing his ongoing theme: nature. From that day onward his parents always knew where to find him!

Michael was always known for his artistic talents, and in high school he received a fine art scholarship to attend the Columbus College of Art and Design, in Ohio. His financial earnings continued to center around the arts, through part time jobs as a paste up artist, mural painter, and also creator of numerous commissioned paintings.

Student deferment from the Vietnam War was not an option, and he signed up for his two years. Within a year, he was seriously injured during his active combat duty, hastening his return to the United States via Japan. Seeing devastated lives all around him, and experiencing his own injuries were experiences that made an indelible mark on the psyche of this contemplative artist.