Born in Moscow, he was the youngest son of Mikhail Andreyevich Golitsyn and his wife, Prascovia Nikitichna Kaftyriova.

In 1717 he returned to Russia and participated in the Great Northern War, during which he distinguished himself in the Battle of Grengam, commanding a detachment of rowing fleet that defeated a Swedish squadron.

In 1732 he returned to the navy with the rank of vice admiral but in 1741 Empress Elizabeth came to the throne and he was recalled to politics, again becoming a privy councilor in 1745.

In 1756, Golitsyn was elevated to the rank of admiral-general, He was the third person to hold this position, and the last one who was not a member of the royal family.

On January 22, 1722, he married Tatiana Kirillovna Naryshkyna (1704–1757), daughter of the governor of Moscow, Kirill Alekseyevich Naryshkin.