Born in Texas, Sulkowicz graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas in 1977. He earned an AB from Harvard University and his MD from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1985.^[4][5] He completed his residency in psychiatry at New York University in 1989 and was certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in 1991.^[6] He also completed psychoanalytic training at the NYU Psychoanalytic Institute in 1992.

After spending several years in clinical practice, Sulkowicz pursued a career in business consulting and in 1998 founded Boswell Group in New York. He named his company “The Boswell Group” after his Jack Russell terrier “Boswell”.^[3][7] The group advises institutions and companies in several industries, and as of 2014 had consultants in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco.^[8] Sulkowicz's clients have included the board of trustees of Cooper Union.^[9] He has been widely cited as an authority on business psychology and the psychology of leadership, including in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times.^[2][10]

In addition to his work with the Boswell Group, Sulkowicz is a clinical professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center.^[11] He is a former head of the Public Information Committee of the American Psychoanalytic Association.^[12] He is a former chair of the board of Physicians for Human Rights.^[13] He sits on the advisory council of Acumen,^[14] and the board of the Lucy Daniels Foundation.^[15][16]

After 9/11 Sulkowicz became known for his work as a volunteer counselor at a crisis center for Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm that lost over two-thirds of its employees in the attacks.^[10]

Sulkowicz has published several articles in scholarly journals, including Harvard Business Review.^[17] Until 2006 he wrote a regular column, "Analyze This," for BusinessWeek. He has also written "The Corporate Shrink" column for Fast Company magazine.^[4][18]

In 2022, Dr. Sulkowicz began a two-year term as president of the American Psychoanalytic Association after having served two years as president-elect. He was unique in this role since--while trained as a psychiatrist and clinical psychoanalyst--Sulkowicz had not seen individual patients in a couple of decades but had instead consulted directly with corporate boards and CEO's.

During his leadership tenure at the American Psychoanalytic Association, Sulkowicz spearheaded initiatives to expand the tent of psychoanalysis by welcoming non-analysts into the Association; by creating ad-hoc committees to review its internal workings; and by reducing some of its entrenched bureaucratic hierarchies. Sulkowicz resigned from the presidency in the spring of 2023 amidst a swirl of allegations and counter-allegations that parallel national controversies related to racism, anti-Semitism, wokeism, and hierarchical fascism. Unlike most controversies that emerge within a professional association, these particular controversies have been covered by the international press. ^[19][20]

Sulkowicz lives in New York City and London. He has two adult daughters. Olivia Sulkowicz is a screenwriter and director. ^[21] Emma Sulkowicz retired from performance art in about 2020 but is known for Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) (2014–2015). It protested Columbia University's sexual assault complaints procedure.^[22]

• Sulkowicz KJ (2004). "Worse than enemies. The CEO's destructive confidant". Harv Bus Rev. 82 (2): 64–71, 121. PMID 14971270.