Glaser was born on February 27, 1930, in San Francisco, California, and lived in nearby Mill Valley.

At Columbia University he was a student of Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert K. Merton and received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1961.

Post-doc Glaser started a research collaboration with Anselm Strauss at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 1970 Glaser started the publishing company Sociology Press specializing in grounded theory methodologies and readers.

In July 2010, the bankruptcy trustee declared that the company had been insolvent for at least two years, and the case was converted from a reorganization to a liquidation.