Matheron graduated from École Polytechnique and later Ecole des Mines de Paris, where he studied mathematics, physics and probability theory (as a student of Paul Lévy).
From 1954 to 1963, he worked with the French Geological Survey in Algeria and France, and was influenced by the works of Krige, Sichel, and de Wijs, from the South African school, on the gold deposits of the Witwatersrand.