Heiko Pinkowski was born in Krefeld in 1966. Already as a minor, he performed in stage productions of the children's theatre in Krefeld. He began to study engineering, German literature and philosophy, yet he eventually dropped out of each class. He then had jobs as a draughtsman, orderly, and truck driver, before returning to the stage in the early 1990s. Starting out at the Stadttheater in Krefeld, he later performed at the Schillertheater in Berlin, the Bauhausbühne in Dessau and the Theater der Landeshauptstadt in Magdeburg. 

In 2001, he took his family to Berlin where he continues to live and work as an actor. In addition to his stage career, Pinkowski has been working in film and television since 2004. His screen credits include guest-starring roles in TV series like "Tatort" and "Die Stein", and parts in theatrical releases like "Jagdhunde" ("Hounds", 2007), "Barfuß bis zum Hals" ("Barefoot to the Neck", 2009) and Doris Dörrie's "Die Friseuse" ("The Hairdresser", 2010).

Along with Axel Ranisch, Dennis Pauls and Anne Baeker, Pinkowski co-founded the production company "Sehr gute Filme", which focuses on no-budget projects. The company's first release "Dicke Mädchen ("Heavy Girls"), directed by Ranisch and starring Pinkowski, went on to win several awards at international festivals.

Follwing supporting roles in "Puppe, Icke & der Dicke" ("Doll, the Fatso & Me", 2012) and "Kohlhaas oder die Verhältnismäßigkeit der Mittel" ("Kohlhaas Or The Proportionality of Means", 2012), Pinkowski again teamed up with Ranisch to be one of the leads in the acclaimed tragicomedy "Ich fühl mich Disco" ("I Feel Like Disco", 2013). He also starred in Ranisch's next film ""Reuber" (2013), playing a cantankerous robber in a fairy-tale like story.

Following a string of supporting roles in TV productions, Heiko Pinkowski was cast in the Serbian release "Otvoreni kavez" ("Open Cage"), the mystery thriller "Sibylle" and "Ich bin dann mal weg", the screen adaption of the eponymous bestselling novel by Hape Kerkeling. In 2015, Pinkowski starred in the Ranisch tragicomedy "Alki Alki", as a husband and family man who puts the relationship to his loved ones at risk because he enjoys indulging in binge drinking with his best friend way too much.

In 2016 he appeared in supporting roles in the crook comedy "Schrotten!" ("Scrappin'"), in the children's film "Rico, Oskar und der Diebstahlstein" ("Rico, Oskar and the Mysterious Stone") and in the abuse drama "Die Hände meiner Mutter" ("Hands of a Mother"). In Achim Bornhak's modern-experimental Shakespeare adaptation "Shakespeares letzte Runde" (2016, TV) he impersonated Falstaff and in the comedy "Schlimmer geht’s immer" (2016, TV) he played a hapless do-it-yourselfer. He had further television roles in Hermine Huntgeburth's adaptation of the Ulla Hahn novel "Aufbruch" ("Departure", 2016) and in the third and fourth season of the hospital series "Bettys Diagnose" (2017).

Ute Wieland cast Pinkowski for her youth drama "Tigermilch" ("Tiger Milk", 2017) as the stepfather of one of the young protagonists; in the excellent tragicomedy "Lux - Krieger des Lichts" ("Lux: Warrior of Light", 2017) he played a leading role as a producer who wants to finance a film about a self-proclaimed "superhero for social justice".

Over the past few years, Pinkowski has maintained a balanced presence in both the film and television industries. On television, he has appeared in numerous supporting roles, such as Julia von Heinz's "Katharina Luther" (2017) and Helena Hufnagel's "Tatort" episode "Die harte Kern" (2019). He also had a leading role as a murder suspect hotelier in Axel Ranisch's "Tatort" episode "Waldlust" (2018). Starting from 2022, he became a regular of the TV drama series "Malibu," which is set on a campground. In the show, he portrays a good-humored Greek plumber.

Pinkowski's feature film roles include notable titles such as Aron Lehmann's acclaimed teenage Cyrano adaptation "Das schönste Mädchen der Welt" ("The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"), the modern fairy tale children's film "Cleo" (2019), and the teenage romantic comedy "Freak City" (2020), in all of which he played supporting roles. In the children's book adaptations "Die Schule der magischen Tiere" ("The School of Magical Animals", 2020) and "Die Schule der magischen Tiere 2" ("The School of Magical Animals 2", 2022), he portrayed the good-natured janitor, Willi Wondraschek. Additionally, collaborating once again with director Axel Ranisch, he was part of the main ensemble in "Orphea in Love" (2022), a modern operatic adaptation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, where he played the role of a talent scout.