Johnson studied at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1923-1930 and attended Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1940-1943. He was in professional partnership with Richard Foster (New York, 1964-1967) and John Burgee (New York 1967-1991). Johnson was the director at the Department of Architecture, Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1930-1936 and 1946-1954, and he was a trustee at the Museum of Modern Art starting in 1958.