Ben Becker was born December 18, 1964, in Bremen, as the son of actors Monika Hansen and Rolf Becker. When his parents separated, he and his sister Meret Becker grew up with their mother and her new partner Otto Sander in Berlin. Ben took part in radio plays already as a child and made his movie debut in 1983 at the side of his step-father Otto Sander in the drama "Eine Liebe in Deutschland" ("A Love in Germany"). 

During the mid-1980s, Becker worked as a stagehand at Berlin's Schaubühne and also took acting lessons from 1985 to 1987. He then appeared regularly in supporting roles in TV series such as "TKKG", "Der Alte" ("The Old Fox") or "Ein Fall für zwei", as well as in TV movies such as Alfred Weidenmann's "Ein ganz gewöhnlicher Mord". In 1991, Becker caused a stir with his performance as a German tourist who reacts to his holiday love's pregnancy with great arrogance in Peter Sehr's romantic drama "Das serbische Mädchen" ("The Serbian Girl"). In the same year, Becker won the Silver Grimme award for his performance in Bernd Böhlich's TV movie "Landschaft mit Dornen".

During the 1990s, Becker was a cast member of Hamburg's Ernst-Deutsch-Theater but also performed at Stuttgart's Staatstheater (1991/92) and at Hamburg's Schauspielhaus (1993/94) in classic plays such as "Kabale und Liebe" or "Romeo and Juliet". In 1995, he staged his own play "Sid & Nancy" with Meret Becker in the leading role. Until today, Ben Becker regularly performs on stage. In 1999, Becker was highly praised for his performance in "Berlin Alexanderplatz" at Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater. Furthermore, he participated in an audio book of the play in 2005 and then went on an nation-wide tour with the play's stage version. 

In 1994, Ben Becker made his breakthrough performance as a movie actor in Joseph Vilsmaier's "Schlafes Bruder" ("Brother of Sleep"). Although the film did not go too well with critics, Becker's powerful acting performance was nevertheless praised by many film critics. In the same year, Becker won his second Grimme award, this time for his part in the episode "Totes Gleis" of the TV crime series "Polizeiruf 110". In the TV season 1996/97, Becker also played inspector Günter Bommel in the crime series "Friedemann Brix". 

In 1997, Becker celebrated another great movie success with the historical drama "Comedian Harmonists", again directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. The film's ensemble of actors won a special award at the 1998 Bavarian film awards. Furthermore, Becker won a "Goldene Kamera" for his portrayal of Robert Biberti. 

In the following years, Becker consolidated his reputation as an overly temperamental, yet highly sensitive character actor with an exceptional presence on screen as well as on the stage in several films and TV movies such as "Gloomy Sunday", "Frau2 sucht Happyend" ("Female2 Seeks HappyEnd"), and "Ein ganz gewöhnlicher Jude". In private, Becker occasionally cultivates his image as a rebellious "enfant terrible" and hits the yellow press headlines with minor scandals. 

Most recently, Ben Becker, who also performs as a musician, was seen as mean fishmonger Karaman in the film version of the children's book classic "Die rote Zora" ("Red Zora"). With his programme "Die Bibel - Eine gesprochene Symphonie", combining readings of the bible with music, he tours through Germany in 2008/2009 together with his "Zero Tolerance Band" and Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg.

In the historical drama "Habermann" (DE/CZ/AT, 2010), Becker played an SS-Sturmbannführer, while in the thriller "Das Kind" ("The Child," DE/US 2012), he took on the role of a brothel owner. In the award-winning youth and romance drama "Von jetzt an kein Zurück" ("Rough Road Ahead," DE/AT 2014), he portrayed the strictly Catholic father of the young protagonist.  

On television, Becker appeared in notable roles, including the titular character in the docudrama "Münchhausen – Die Geschichte einer Lüge" (2013), the Sea King in the fairy tale adaptation "Die kleine Meerjungfrau" (2013), and the lead role in the "Tatort" episode "Der Fall Reinhardt" (2014).  

Between 2009 and 2014, Becker also authored four children’s books featuring the main character Bruno: "Bruno – der Junge mit den grünen Haaren," "Brunos Weihnachten," "Geschichten vom Bruno mit den grünen Haaren," and "Bruno auf großer Fahrt." In 2014, he toured Germany with his literary performance "Der ewige Brunnen," in collaboration with composer Yoyo Röhm.  

In the years that followed, Becker focused primarily on television productions. He appeared as a West German Stasi operative in the three-part series "Der gleiche Himmel" ("The Same Sky," 2017), as a vengeful father of a murder victim in the "Polizeiruf 110" episode "Crash" (2018), and as a corrupt policeman in the Ludwigshafen-based "Tatort" episode "Die Pfalz von oben" (2019).  

In Rosa von Praunheim’s docudrama "Rex Gildo – Der letzte Tanz" ("Rex Gildo – The Last Dance," 2022), he played Fred Miekley, the music manager who discovered Gildo. That same year, Oliver Hirschbiegel cast him in the titular role of the docudrama "Der Maler" ("The Painter," 2022), about artist Albert Oehlen.  

Most recently, at the end of 2023, Becker starred in the lead role of the six-part crime series "Boom Boom Bruno" (2023), playing a macho cop who must team up with his new partner to solve the murder of a drag queen.