Katja Bürkle was born in 1978 in Stuttgart, where she studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts from 1997 to 2001. While still a student, she became a regular ensemble member at the Staatstheater Stuttgart in 2000. For her performances there, she was named 'Young Actress of the Year' by the trade magazine Theater in 2002. After appearing in plays at a number of other theaters, Bürkle was a permanent ensemble member of the Münchner Kammerspiele from 2008 to 2017. There she appeared in numerous award-winning stage productions, among others in the world premiere of Elfriede Jelinek's "Rechnitz" ("Der Würgeengel") in 2009.

Katja Bürkle played her first television roles in the crime series "Tatort": in the episode "In eigener Sache" (2008) she had a key role as a drug dealer; in the episode "Hauch des Todes" she played a leading role as a guest investigator and sister of a murder victim; the episode "Jagdzeit" (2011) featured her as the depressed, alcoholic mother of a teenage murder witness. Directed by Till Endemann, she was part of the ensemble of the judicial drama "Unter Anklage: Der Fall Harry Wörz" (2014).

In addition to theater work, Bürkle also appeared in several TV productions over the next few years, mostly in episodes of popular crime series such as "Polizeiruf 110," "Mord in bester Gesellschaft", "Kommissarin Lucas" and "Unter Verdacht" mit Senta Berger. She made her big screen debut in 2017 in the award-winning comedy "Einsamkeit und Sex und Mitleid" ("Sex, Pity and Loneliness"), as a self-confident artist whose work acts as a link between various storylines.

After a season at the Residenztheater Munich in 2017, Katja Bürkle began working as a freelance actress, appearing at the Deutsches Theater Berlin, the Vienna Burgtheater and the Salzburg Festival. In 2018, she was awarded Best Actress at the Tehran International Theater Festival for her performance in "Hamlet." She received a nomination for the FAUST Prize for her portrayal of Franz Moor in Ulrich Rasche's production of Schiller's "The Robbers" (2018).

In parallel, Bürkle continued to take on roles in film and television productions. In 2018, she made a brief appearance as a doctor in Doris Dörrie's drama "Kirschblüten und Dämonen" "Cherry Blossoms & Demons"). The "Polizeiruf 110" episode "Die Lücke, die der Teufel lässt" (2019) featured her as a blackmailed pizza deliverer. In 2020, she appeared in the Stuttgart "Tatort"-episode "Du allein" in the lead role of a murderous avenger. In the same year, Raymond Ley's docudrama "Schuss in der Nacht - Die Ermordung Walter Lübckes" was broadcast, in which she appeared as the chief investigator. On the big screen, Katja Bürkle appeared as a pathologist in the comedy "Weißbier im Blut" in 2021, and she was part of the ensemble of Alain Gsponer's "Wolke unterm Dach," which was released in 2022. The drama "Im toten Winkel" ("In the Blind Spot") premiered at the 2023 Berlinale, with Bürkle in the leading role of a documentary filmmaker who is drawn into the simmering conflict between Turks and Kurds in northeastern Turkey. 

In addition to her work as an actress, Katja Bürkle teaches at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich.