Volodymyr Kozhukhar was born in Vinnytsia and studied at Kyiv and Moscow Conservatoires. From 1964 he was conductor and from 1967 became Chief Conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. In 1973 – 1977 he conducted at the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theatre, after that moving to Moscow to the position of the Chief Conductor of the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre. From 1989 Volodymyr Kozhukhar is the Chief Conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine.
He was teaching at the Gnesin Music and Pedagogy Institute in Moscow in 1978 – 1988. From 1993 he is Professor at the Kyiv Conservatoire (now National Music Academy of Ukraine). Volodymyr Kozhukhar is an Honoured Artist of Russia (1985) and of Ukraine (1993).