Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire.^[1] He was educated at the Scottish School of Librarianship, and worked as a librarian before he started his studies in Hull. After graduating with a First Class Honours degree from the University of Hull, he worked in the university's Brynmor Jones Library under Philip Larkin.^[2] He was friendly with Larkin and admired his poetry, but did not share his political opinions.

He was a Professor of English at the University of St Andrews from 1991, becoming Director of the University's Scottish Studies Centre in 1993 until his retirement in September 2008. He is now an Honorary Professor at St Andrews, still undertaking postgraduate supervision in the School of English. He was a member of the Scottish Arts Council (1992–1994). He holds an honorary doctorate (LL.D., law) from the University of Dundee, an honorary doctorate (D.Litt., literature) from the University of Hull and St Andrews. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1981, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2003. Terry Street, Dunn's first collection of poems, appeared in 1969 and received a Scottish Arts Council Book Award as well as a Somerset Maugham Award.

• 1968 Eric Gregory Award
• 1969 Scottish Arts Council Book Award for Terry Street
• 1969 Somerset Maugham Award. for Terry Street
• 1976 Scottish Arts Council Book Award for Love or Nothing
• 1976 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for Love or Nothing
• 1981 Hawthornden Prize for St. Kilda's Parliament
• 1981 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
• 1985 Whitbread Book of the Year for Elegies
• 1989 Cholmondeley Award
• 2003 Officer of the OBE
• Guggenheim Fellowship
• Honorary doctorate (LL.D., law) from the University of Dundee
• Honorary doctorate (D.Litt., literature) from the University of Hull
• Honorary doctorate (D.Litt., literature) from the University of St Andrews

• Terry Street - 1969 (winner of the Somerset Maugham Award)
• The Happier Life - 1972
• Love or Nothing - 1974 (winner of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize)
• Barbarians - 1979
• St. Kilda's Parliament - 1981 (winner of the Hawthornden Prize)
• Europa's Lover - 1982
• Elegies - 1985
• Secret Villages (collection of short stories) - 1985
• Northlight - 1988
• Andromache (translation of Racine's play of the same name) - 1990
• Dante's Drum-Kit - 1993
• Boyfriends and Girlfriends - 1995
• The Donkey's Ears - 2000
• The Year's Afternoon - 2000
• New Selected Poems 1964-2000 - 2002
• Invisible Ink - 2011
• The Noise of a Fly - 2017

• White, Kenneth (1982), review of St. Kilda's Parliament, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 8, Spring 1982, pp.44 & 45, ISSN 0264-0856
• Craig, Cairns (1984), Lourd on My Hert, which includes a review of Europa's Lover, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 15, New Year 1984, pp. 54 & 55, ISSN 0264-0856

• Wroe, Nicholas (18 January 2003), "Speaking from experience", The Guardian, retrieved 17 October 2015

• Art UK Your Paintings, in partnership with the Public Catalogue Foundation
• Professor Douglas Dunn at British Council: Literature
• Profile and poems written and audio at The Poetry Archive
• Guardian profile "Speaking from experience" 18 January 2003
• Article "Douglas Dunn: Finished Fragrance: The Poems of George Mackay Brown. Poetry Nation No 2 - 1974
• National Gallery of Scotland profile and sculpture
• Ferens Gallery, Hull.