Niels Keiding was born on 14 May 1944 in Copenhagen, Denmark and died on 3 March 2022. He grew up in a suburb North of Copenhagen as the oldest of three children; with two younger sisters. Their father was a biologist working with insects that are pests for agriculture. By following his father's work, Niels realised early that he would also work with biological data, and in high school, decided he wanted to become a biostatistician. Niels was excellent at mathematics, and other important interests included scouting. His keen interest in nature continued throughout his life.