Early Life
Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, the son of Diane Lou (née Oswald) and Charles Voyde Harrelson, who divorced in 1964; he has two brothers, Jordan and Brett. Harrelson's father, who was a contract killer, was arrested for the killing of Federal Judge John H. Wood, Jr. by rifle fire in 1979 in San Antonio. His father was convicted and eventually died during his life sentence in United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility.
In 1973, Harrelson moved to his mother's native city, Lebanon, Ohio, where he was raised. Harrelson attended Lebanon High School, working through much of high school as a woodcarver at Kings Island amusement park. He later attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. He received a bachelor of arts in theater arts and English in 1983. He told Playboy in October 2009, "I was getting into theology and studying the roots of the Bible, but then I started to discover the man-made nature of it. I started seeing things that made me ask, 'Is God really speaking through this instrument?' ... My eyes opened to the reality of the Bible being just a document to control people. At the time I was a real mama's boy and deeply mesmerized by the church."
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