He was born in 1802, grandson to the general Ivan Kuzmich Krasnov (1752–1812), fellow-fighter of Alexander Suvorov and Matvey Platov.

In 1838, Ivan Krasnov was elected the director of the board of the Don Cossack Voisko and assistant to the Ataman for civil affairs.

After the end of Crimean War, Ivan Ivanovich Krasnov returned to his social activities.

He regularly published several articles in Don Voisko News (Донские Войсковые Ведомости), Military Review (Военный сборник) and other periodicals.

Ivan I. Krasnov started his literary activity with poems, such as Quiet Flows the Don, Prince Vasil'ko and more.