He was born on August 5, 1961, in Almaty. His mother, Gulzhavgar Bayzhanbaeva (died in January 1999), worked for the Socialist Kazakhstan newspaper. His father, journalist Anuarbek Aukenev, passed away in 1961. He is the nephew of Anuarbek Nygmetzhanovich Bayzhanbaev (March 26, 1923, Semipalatinsk — October 21, 1989, Almaty), a renowned announcer of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting of the Kazakh SSR, People's Artist of the Kazakh SSR (1973), Honored Artist of the Kazakh SSR (since 1967), and Honored Radio Operator of the USSR (1958).