Andrew Clutterbuck was born in London,[3] the son of an English civil engineer and a South African nurse.[4][5] His family moved to Hull when he was 18 months old, and then to Bath when he was eight or nine.[3] He attended Beechen Cliff School, where at age 14 he had his first acting role as the Artful Dodger in a school production of Oliver!.[6][7] He spent a summer at the National Youth Theatre in London and became interested in acting as a career.[8] After leaving school, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and began to use "Andrew Lincoln" as his stage name.[9]