John Boorman was born on January 18, 1933, in Carshalton, Surrey, England, and attended the Salesian School in Chertsey, Surrey. His experiences growing up during the "London Blitz" in World War II and then at a British army training camp during the Korean War would later be recounted in his most autobiographical films (respectively, Hope and Glory and Queen & Country). Following military service, Boorman became gradually involved in television journalism and documentary filmmaking, and was appointed head of the BBC's Documentary Unit in 1962.

Within a few years, he was offered the opportunity to direct his first full–length feature film: Catch Us If You Can (1965), a musical–comedy starring the Dave Clark Five. Immediately Boorman showed his versatility with his next movie, the influential crime–thriller Point Blank (1967), starring Lee Marvin. Boorman and Marvin collaborated again, this time with the legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, on the World War II survival drama Hell in the Pacific (1968). Boorman won his first Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award for the Fellini–esque comedy Leo the Last (1970) and had his first major box–office success with the controversial thriller Deliverance (1972), adapted from the novel by James Dickey. Deliverance earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Boorman's other films include: Zardoz (1974), a cult science–fiction fantasy starring Sean Connery; Excalibur (1981), an impassioned retelling of the King Arthur legend; The Emerald Forest (1985), featuring his son, Charley Boorman; Hope and Glory (1987), his second film to receive Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director (and winner of a Golden Globe Award for Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture); Where the Heart Is (1990), a comedy co–written by his daughter, Telsche Boorman; The General (1998), a biopic about Irish gangster Martin Cahill, for which Boorman won his second Best Director Award at Cannes; The Tailor of Panama (2001), an adaptation of John le Carré's bestselling novel; and Queen & Country (2014), a sequel to Hope and Glory. He also directed two acclaimed short films: I Dreamt I Woke Up (1991), and Two Nudes Bathing (1995).

Boorman won a BAFTA Fellowship in 2004 and a British Film Institute Fellowship in 2014. He has also received a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) and the French Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters medal. He has seven children from two marriages, many of whom have participated in his films. He has lived in Ireland for several years and has been actively involved in the Irish film industry. Boorman was one of the writers for the 2019 film The Professor and the Madman.