Thomas Riedelsheimer was born in 1963. From 1984 until 1991, he studied documentary filmmaking at the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film in Munich, where he is also lecturing today. Since 1986, he has been working as a director, editor and cinematographer in Germany and abroad. His debut "Borderline" (1988) was followed by numerous award-winning works, including so "Sponsae Christi – Die Bräute Christi" (1992, winner of Grimme-Award), "Rivers and Tides", (2001, winner of German Film Award for Best Documentary, Deutscher Kamerpreis) and "Touch the Sound" (2004, German Film Award for Best Sound) In 2002, Riedelsheimer, Stefan Tolz and Thomas Wartmann co-founded the production company Filmquadrat. They later disbanded with Riedelsheimer and Tolz founding their new company Filmpunkt.

Between 2005 and 2009, Riedelsheimer predominately worked as a DoP. In this capacity, he worked on the feature drama "Oktoberfest" (2005) as well as the documentaries "Between the Lines - Indiens drittes Geschlecht" (released in 2005, with Riedelsheimer also credited as producer and editor), "Traders' Dreams - Eine Reise in die ebay-Welt" (2006) and "Klassenkampf" (2008). Durin that period, he also began work on his next directorial effort "Seelenvögel", on which he also served as writer, producer, DoP and editor. The film premiered at the 2009 Filmfest Munich and went on to win the Gilde-Filmpreis for Best Documentary and a Grimme Award.

Riedelsheimer's following films, "Breathing Earth - Susumu Shingus Traum" (2009-2012) and "Garden in the Sea" (MX/DE 2012), portrayed artists and their respective works. The 2016 Hofer Filmtage saw the premiere of his documentary "Die Farbe der Sehnsucht" ("The Colour of Yearning", 2014-2016), for which he travelled around the world to explore different notions of desire. The film was released theatrically in Germany in June 2017, and shortly before that, his new documentary feature "Leaning into the Wind - Andy Goldsworthy"(DE/GB 2016) premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival. It's the second film after "Rivers and Tides" in which Riedelsheimer portrays the British artist known for his use of natural, often deteriorating materials in his works.

In the following years, he worked as a cinematographer on the documentary films "Claude Dornier - Pionier der Luftfahrt" ("Claude Dornier - Pioneer of Aviation" 2018, TV) and "In den Uffizien" ("Inside the Uffizi," 2019–2021), as well as on "Lene und die Geister des Waldes" (2020), a nature documentary for children. For the television channel Arte, Riedelsheimer served as writer, director, and cinematographer for the documentary series "Die Brotrebellen" (2021), which follows five bakers in various European countries. 

In May 2022, Riedelsheimer began work on his next feature-length documentary, "Tracing Light - Die Magie des Lichts" ("Tracing Light") exploring the natural phenomenon of light from scientific and artistic perspectives. The film premiered in German cinemas in January 2025.