The collision, which involved a silver Porsche and a grey Toyota Hilux, happened on the B976 Birse to Finzean road at 19:12 on Saturday.
The 30-year-old driver of the Porsche was airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
The driver of the pick-up was uninjured.
Sergeant Rob Warnock, from the Aberdeenshire and Moray Road Policing Unit, said: "Inquiries into the circumstances of the incident are at an early stage and I am appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident or saw the silver Porsche or the Toyota Hilux prior to the incident to contact the police.''
A man is being treated for life threatening injuries after his car was involved in a crash with a pick-up truck in Aberdeenshire.