He was born on 11.10.1968 in Konya.
He completed his elementary, secondary and high school education in Konya. He graduated from Istanbul University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Public Administration in 1989.
In 1990, he started to serve as a District Governor at the Ministry of Interior.
In 1993, he was appointed as the District Governor of Felahiye District of Kayseri.
He worked as the District Governor in districts of Hilvan (Şanlıurfa) ve Sarıkaya (Yozgat), respectively.
On 29.05.2003, he was appointed as the Legal Counselor of the Ministry of Interior and on 09.02.2004 he was appointed as the General Manager of Personnel of the Ministry of Health.
He served as Şırnak governor from 13.12.2007 to 17.05.2010, Ağrı Governor from 23.05.2010 to 09.08.2012, Tekirdağ Governor from 17.08.2012 to 03.03.2015, and Gaziantep Governor from 05.03.2015 to 03.11.2018.
Yerlikaya, who was appointed as the Governor of Istanbul by the Presidential Appointment Decision dated October 26, 2018 and numbered 2018/202, is married to Mrs. Hatice Nur and is the father of four children.