[1] Shanks graduated from the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne and went on to study at Peterhouse, Cambridge, earning a BA in 1980.

[1] After finishing his studies he went on to get a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate of Education) from Durham University in 1982.

Shanks went on to earn a docentur (Higher Doctorate and license to teach) from the Institute of Archaeology in Göteborg in 1997.

[3] He currently teaches courses at Stanford University focussing on the intersection of archeological thought and modern design thinking methods.

[4] Michael Shanks lives in Northern California with his two children and his wife, Helen Shanks, a ceramic artist and former head of visual and performing arts at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California.