Rouven Rech was born in Bochum in 1973. He studied at the Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen "Konrad Wolf" and was a co-organizer of the international student film festival "SehSüchte" in Potsdam-Babelsberg. In 2001, Rech enrolled at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and specialized in documentary filmmaking. After graduating in 2004, he started working as a freelance fillmaker, author and cinematographer for several TV stations.

In 2005, he became co-founder of the film and video production company Torero Film, which is based in Berlin and Konstanz. With co-director Frank Pfeiffer, he completed his first feature-length documentary "Das Leben ist kein Heimspiel" about the unique success story of the German pro football team TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.