Yevhen Vasylovych Chernenko was born on 5 October 1934 in the village of Buda, Malyn Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukrainian SSR.

During his evacuation to Orenburg Oblast along with his mother in World War II, Chernenko read the works of the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, which greatly impressed him.

He participated in a number of archaeological expeditions, most notably the 1971 excavation of the Scythian tomb of Tolstaya Mogila.

He was made a Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute in 1988, and awarded the title of Professor in 1992.

In accordance with his will, the urn with the ashes of Chernenko were lowered in the Scythian Borysthenes river.