Donald K. Campbell, the son of J.W. and Ruby, was born in December 1920 in Cornwall, Ontario, was raised in Edmonton, and traveled with his family on several major road trips as a child, all of which he documented in detailed diaries. He enrolled in the engineering program at the University of Alberta in 1939 but his studies were interrupted by the onset of the Second World War. Civil engineering students were enlisted in the effort to build the Alaska Highway, so Donald spent the first years of the conflict on that project. He enlisted in the military in 1943 and was completing officer training when the war ended in 1945.

Donald married Doris Berthe in 1947, the same year he joined Northwestern Utilities as an engineer. The couple had three children: Barbara (1949), Donald, Jr. (1951), and Mary (1953). Donald and Doris eventually divorced and Donald re-married to Lydia Khunke in 1975.

Donald was an active member of the Alpine Club of Canada and the Edmonton Photo Club. As a photography hobbyist, he documented several events, sites, and subjects in Edmonton and across Alberta. He retired from Northwestern Utilities in 1984 but maintained an interest in photography for the rest of his life. Donald died in January, 2002.