Wayne Edwards was born and raised in the rural, central Montana town of Denton, graduating from high school in 1971. A three-sport high school standout, Edwards attended Montana State University-Bozeman on a football scholarship, receiving his B.S. in Pre-Med in 1975. He then completed his DDS degree from the University of Washington, and returned to Bozeman where he practiced Dentistry until 1986. Wayne then went back to his hometown of Denton, joining his father as a third generation banker at the family-owned agricultural bank started by his grandfather in 1929.