Mortensen was born in New York City, New York. His American mother, Grace Gamble (née Atkinson), and Danish father, Viggo Peter Mortensen, Sr. (a farm manager who worked in business), met in Norway. His maternal grandfather was from Canada. His family moved to Venezuela, Argentina and Denmark, settling in Argentina, where he learned Spanish. His father managed chicken farms and ranches in Argentina. They remained there until Mortensen was age eleven, when his parents divorced and his mother moved back to New York. He moved with his father to Copenhagen, Denmark. Mortensen and his father eventually went back to the United States where Mortensen graduated from Watertown High School, Watertown, New York. After high school, he returned to Denmark, and became a truckdriver in Esbjerg, Denmark, before, again, returning to the United States to pursue an acting career. He attended St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, earning a bachelor's degree in Spanish. He chose that subject because he could get good grades without a lot of study, leaving him free to be in a lot of plays. At his commencement, he refused to wear an academic gown because they were made by sweatshop workers.
Mortensen has a son, Henry Mortensen, with ex-wife Exene Cervenka, singer of the punk band X. Henry and Viggo have done public father/son poetry reading together as recently as April 2006. Mortensen is fluent in English, Danish and Spanish, and conversant in Norwegian. He also speaks French, Italian and Swedish reasonably well.
Mortensen is an ice hockey fan, particularly of the Montreal Canadiens. He also loves soccer, and is a big fan of all time Argentine star Diego Armando Maradona, Héctor "Bambino" Veira and both the Argentine and Danish national teams, as well as Argentine club San Lorenzo de Almagro. In 1993, Mortensen went to Ireland during a break in shooting without the consent of the production company, to watch Denmark play in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification match. He is also a fan of the New York Mets.
He has spoken out against militarism and U.S. foreign policy. In continuing with his opposition to the Bush administration's foreign policy he participated in a series of fundraisers for the Northern New York Congressional candidate from the Watertown, New York area, Bob Johnson, in September 2006. In January 2008, he publicly supported Dennis Kucinich for U.S. president, speaking alongside him in a number of public appearances. In Denmark, Mortensen is known for his support for the Freetown Christiania and criticism against the Danish participation in the Iraq war.
In Argentina he is known as "Guido" Mortensen, after San Lorenzo de Almagro's retired player and former coach, Héctor "Bambino" Veira refers to him.
Mortensen has owned property near Sandpoint, Idaho, since the mid-1980s and spends time there when not filming movies.
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