Potapenko was born in the village of Fyodorovka, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) where his father was a priest. Potapenko studied at Odessa University, and at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. His first works were tales of Ukrainian life. He's best known for his novel A Russian Priest (1890), published in Vestnik Evropy (Herald of Europe). His works include novels, plays, and short stories.^[1]

• The General's Daughter, (novel), T. Fisher Unwin, 1892.
• A Father of Six, and An Occasional Holiday, (short novels), T. Fisher Unwin, 1893. from Archive.org
• A Thousand Talents, (story), from Anthology of Russian Literature, Volume 2, Leo Wiener, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1903. from Archive.org
• The Curse of Fame, (story), from Short Story Classics (Foreign) Volume 1, P.F. Collier, 1907. from Archive.org
• What Dmitro Saw At the War, (story), from The Soul of Russia, W. Stephens, Macmillan and Co. LTD, London, 1916. from Archive.org
• A Russian Priest, (novel), T. Fisher Unwin, 1916. from Archive.org
• Dethroned, (story), from Best Russian Short Stories, Boni and Liveright, 1917. from Archive.org