Vsevolod, the eldest son of Mstislav the Great and Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden, was born in Novgorod during his father's reign as prince there (1088–1093, 1095–1117) and given the baptismal name Gabriel, or Gavriil.

His maternal grandfather was King Inge the Elder of Sweden.

The date of his birth is unknown, although the idea has been advanced that the event was commemorated by the Annunciation Church in the Marketplace, founded by Mstislav in 1103.

Enthroned as Prince of Novgorod after his father Mstislav Vladimirovich became Grand Prince of Kiev in 1117, he will rule Novgorod, with some interruption, until he is ousted by the Novgorodians in 1136.

He had wed a Chernigovian princess in Novgorod in 1123 and his son, Ivan, was born there (he died in 1128).

In 1123, Vsevolod led the Novgorodians against the Proto-Estonians, called Chuds in Old East Slavic chronicles.

These campaigns had continued in 1130 and will extend over the next several years.

Aside from Vladimir Yaroslavich, Vsevolod is the first Novgorodian prince known to have been in conflict with Finns (in 1123).

In addition to leading Novgorodian armies on several campaigns, Vsevolod has built a number of churches in and around the city: the Church of St. John on Opoki (1127–1130), the Church of St. George in the Market (1133), the Church of The Assumption in the Market (1133; built with Archbishop Nifont), and the Church of St. George in the Yuriev Monastery.

It is Vsevolod who grants the charter to Ivan's Hundred, the first Russian merchant guild.

In addition, the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Yaroslav's Court, while often attributed to his father Mstislav, is mostly built during Vsevolod's tenure in Novgorod.

Following his father's death in 1132, support for Vsevolod begins to erode in Novgorod.

This same year, he is sent by his uncle, Grand Prince Yaropolk, to Pereslavl, to reign there.

When he tries to return to Novgorod later that year, the Novgorodians refuse to accept him back because they consider his move to Pereslavl as a betrayal (He had sworn an oath to die in Novgorod).

That being said, the chronicles indicate that he was back leading a Novgorodian army in 1133.

It is during this campaign that Vsevolod captures the city of Yuryev (modern Tartu, Estonia).