Yener was born in Istanbul to Turkish parents, and moved to the United States, in New Rochelle, New York at the age of six months.
Soon she visited her native Turkey and subsequently transferred to Robert College in Istanbul in 1966, where she studied the humanities.
While studying a course in Roman ruins in Turkey, she noticed and became interested in the earlier prehistoric periods at those sites.
[1][2] Aslıhan Yener joined the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago in 1993, where she is currently Associate Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology.
She is currently the director of the Asi River Valley Regional Project and conducts research on the site of Alalah, which was the capital of the Mukish Kingdom during the Hittite period (Late Bronze Age, 2000-1200 BC).