Andronikos was born on October 23, 1919, at Bursa (Greek: Προύσα). His father originated from the island of Samos, while his mother was from Imbros.[1] Later, his family moved to Thessaloniki.
He was married to the school teacher Olympia Kakoulidou and loved reading poetry, especially Kostis Palamas, Giorgos Seferis, and Odysseas Elytis. He was the founder of a local cultural group named Art (Greek: Η τέχνη).
Manolis Andronikos conducted archaeological research in Veroia, Naousa, Kilkis, Chalkidiki, and Thessaloniki, but his main research was done in Vergina, where his teacher, professor K. Rhomaios had founded in 1937 the Aristotle University Excavation at Vergina. His greatest discovery occurred on November 8, 1977, when he found a tomb at Vergina which he identified as that of Philip II of Macedon. It was unplundered and contained many valuable items, such as a golden larnax.[2] The finds from this tomb were later included in the travelling exhibit "The Search for Alexander" displayed at four cities in the United States from 1980 to 1982.[3][4] While the discovery is of great archaeological importance, the identification of the tomb with Philip has been disputed by some archaeologists; that said, if the tomb is not Philip's, one of the others in the same complex probably is.[5]