The boys were educated at the Collegium Nobilium in Warsaw and in 1772 Stanisław went to the military academy in Turin.

He travelled through Europe and on returning, he married Princess Aleksandra Lubomirska, the daughter of Great Marshal of the Crown, Prince Stanisław Lubomirski, on 2 June 1776.

[1] He was an alumnus of the Collegium Nobilium in Warsaw, and later studied Polonistics, literature and arts in Wilanów.

He was persuaded to be a witness during the Dogrum affair (1784-85) but found the process unfair and moved to Carlsbad to rest.

[2] Potocki was a co-founder of the Society of Friends of Science (Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, or TPN) in Warsaw in 1800.

Potocki organized archaeological excavations in Italy, inter alia in Laurentum in 1779 and Nola in 1785–1786.