Arnold Krochmal was born January 30, 1919, in New York to Morris and Leah Krochmal. The son of immigrant parents, he was raised in the Bronx. He earned a B.S. in Pomology from North Carolina State College in 1942, and served in the Army from 1942 to 1946. After serving in the European theatre during WWII, he went on to earn his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University.

Dr. Krochmal spent his life traveling the globe writing books, teaching and documenting his trips in photographs. Asa botanist and experimental horticulturist, he made medicinal plants and naturopathy his specialty and worked with small farmers in the developing world to increase crop yield and develop disease-resistant plants through processes now assigned to genetics.  Although he worked and traveled around the world, he also worked in the United States for the United States Forest Service as an economic botanist. From 1961 to 1966, Krochmal served as a project leader for timber-related crops in Berea, Kentucky, and was a visiting professor at Berea College in 1967.

Dr. Krochmal was the author and co-author of numerous books (including A Guide to the Medicinal Plants of the United States) and research papers (such as the Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia).  He co-authored many of his works with wife Connie Brite Krochmal, a writer from Appalachian Kentucky.  Later in life, Dr. Krochmal adopted Harlan County and its people as his own.  Arnold Krochmal died September 2, 1993, in Asheville, North Carolina.  He is buried in Harlan County.