Stuart Evey was born in Havre, Montana, and from a very young age developed an insatiable thirst for sports, both as a participant and as a fan. He attended the University of Washington, where he was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and graduated in 1958, following serving in the Army in Berlin, Germany.

Evey began his career with Getty Oil Company, starting at the bottom and working his way up to VP of world wide non-oil operations, a position he held after 26 years of service. His rise was accelerated due to his close relationship with George Getty, who was his mentor during this time. Evey's responsibilities at Getty included commercial real estate, lumber and plywood mills in the U.S. and Africa, agribusiness holdings in California, and hotel and resort holdings in the U.S. and Mexico.

In 1979, Evey was approached by an entrepreneur with a vision for launching a total sports network cable television network. Evey was intrigued with the plan and decided to recommend an investment in this new industry to Getty management. Following Getty's investment in the launch of ESPN, Evey became the founding chairman and his vision and business sense helped make ESPN in to what many have said is the most successful story in broadcasting history. Not only did he direct and oversee the growth of ESPN, he also negotiated the sale to ABC Television in 1984 for nearly $300 million.

Evey has served on the boards of many companies including Cyan, Mitsubishi Oil Company, GO Energy, Louisiana Gaming Company Vadium Technology, and H.F. Ahmanson and Co. Evey has written a book about the early days of ESPN, called Creating an Empire. He currently lives in Spokane with his wife, Mary, and serves as a business development consultant and guest speaker.