Ward was born in White Plains, New York on January 7, 1951. Ward's mother, Lukey Ward, was a political and civil rights activist, and Ward has often said publicly that he was born into politics. Lukey Ward was, along with her friend Georgia Davis, the day-to-day manager of the Kentucky chapter of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. In fact, she was at the Lorraine Motel, waiting to go to dinner with Dr. King, when he was assassinated as he exited his room. Ward's father, Jasper Ward III, was a well-known award-winning architect in Louisville. His buildings include the Student Center at the University of Louisville and the Jewish Doctors Office Building at Interstate 65 and Liberty Street. Mike Ward is also the great great grandson of Jasper D. Ward, a former 1800s Chicago Congressman.