Her father, Zbigniew Błaszkiewicz, was an engineer for the Communal Building Projects Bureau (Biuro Projektów Budownictwa Komunalnego).

She was initially homeschooled, but began attending 2nd grade in elementary school in 1949 and joined the 18 Scout Team of the “Zośka” Battalion.

As a student in the Politechnic institute, she joined the Academic Sports Union (AZS Wrocław), where she opted to play volleyball.

speculated that Rutkiewicz might have been called up to the national team or even represent Poland in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but she chose to pursue climbing instead.

She started waving to people passing on the road to seek their assistance; a motorcyclist who stopped to help was travelling with a colleague, Bogdan Jankowski, who had been climbing for two years.

Her first major expedition was to the Pamir Mountains with Andrzej Zawada, which she found unpleasant due to her difficult relationships with the male climbers.

[4] She reached Mount Everest the same day that her compatriot, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, whom Rutkiewicz met in 1979, was announced Pope John Paul II.

"[4] In 1986, she became the first woman to successfully climb K2, which she did without supplemental oxygen, as part of a small expedition led by Liliane and Maurice Barrard.

[14] In October 2021, the Polish Parliament passed a resolution to commemorate the 30th anniversary of her death and named 2022 as the "Year of Wanda Rutkiewicz".