Kammala wannan jumlar: An haifi Nikolay Ogaryov a Saint Petersburg a cikin dangin masu mallakar ƙasa na Rasha. Bayan ya rasa mahaifiyarsa da wuri, Nikolay ya yi amfani da shekarun yaro a gidan mahaifinsa kusa da Penza. A cikin 1826 ya sadu kuma ya zama babban aboki na danginsa mai nisa Aleksandr Herzen, wanda nan da nan ya sami abubuwa guda biyu, ƙyamar sarauta da kuma zurfin tausayawa tare da
Ra'ayoyin Decembrists. A cikin 1829 ya bar gonar kuma ya tafi karatu a Jami'ar Moscow, inda ya haɓaka aikin siyasa mai ban mamaki ta hanyar shiga cikin ƙungiyar masu ra'ayin gurguzu na utopian, wanda ya haifar da kama shi da kuma gudun hijira a gonar mahaifinsa.