Ray Dolby was born on January 18, 1933, in Portland, Oregon, a city on the Pacific Northwest edge of the United States. He attended Sequoia High School before pursuing his education at San Jose State University and Stanford University, and he later studied at Pembroke College. A Marshall Scholarship supported a portion of his academic path, reflecting early recognition of his abilities as an engineer.

Dolby worked as an electrical engineer, audio engineer, inventor, and businessperson, and he held patents that reflected the practical thrust of his career. The honors he accumulated over the course of his professional life were drawn from several distinct fields. He received the Edison Medal and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, two of the more significant distinctions available to engineers and inventors in the United States. The entertainment and recording industries recognized his contributions as well, through both the Academy Award of Merit and the Technical Grammy Award. Beyond American institutions, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, a recognition that spoke to his standing in Britain, where Pembroke College had once been part of his formation.

Ray Dolby died on September 12, 2013, in San Francisco, California — the same state where he had attended high school and university decades before. He was eighty years old. The Library of Congress catalogs him under the entry "Dolby, Ray, 1933–2013," a designation that traces the span of a career built on engineering and invention.