Whalen wuxuu ku dhashay Portland, Oregon, wuxuuna ku soo barbaaray Dalles laga soo bilaabo afar jir ilaa uu ku soo laabtay Portland 1941. Wuxuu ka tirsanaa ciidamada cirka ee Mareykanka intii lagu jiray Dagaalkii Labaad ee Adduunka. wuxuu dhigan jiray Reed College isagoo qaadanaya lacagta GI Bill. Halkaas, wuxuu kula kulmay Gary Snyder iyo Lew Welch, wuxuuna ka qalin jabiyay BA 1951. Waxa uu ka akhriyey Six Gallery oo caan ah.
1955 waxay calaamad u ahayd soo bandhigida kooxda West Coast Beats ee indhaha bulshada. Wuxuu u muuqdaa, qaab aan caadi aheyn, sida dabeecada "Warren Coughlin" ee Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums", oo ay kujirto xisaabinta akhrintaas. Big Sur waxaa loogu yeeraa Ben Fagan. Gabayada Whalen waxaa lagu soo bandhigay Donald Allen's anthology "The New American Poetry 1945-1960".