The man with a rubber face, who can change his appearance from total buffoon to a snobbish aristocrat in the blink of an eye, was born and raised in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. With his farmer father, Atkinson attended a private school with his two older brothers. Following school, he furthered his education at Newcastle University. He then went to Oxford University to complete an electrical engineering degree. The school led him to future screenwriter Richard Curtis, with whom he wrote and performed comedy revues at the Oxford Playhouse and later at the Edinburgh Fringe.

This led to a stint on the popular television comedy series, Not the Nine O'Clock News, for which he wrote and acted. For his performance in the comedy series, Atkinson personally won a British Academy Award and was named BBC Personality of the Year. Using this experience, Atkinson continued to work in television with Curtis, with whom he created the comedy series, Blackadder, in 1983. Playing a variety of Blackadder characters throughout England's history, the show became a favorite among the British and American audiences alike. Billed as a "situation tragedy" on the BBC, it ran three seasons and later spawned a couple of specials.

Atkinson made his major feature film bow with a small, yet comical role in the James Bond thriller, Never Say Never Again. In the late '80s he starred in a few films penned by Curtis. It was while they were filming The Tall Guy that Atkinson and Curtis created Mr. Bean, an average British Joe with a clumsy nature and a nasty streak and launched a series. With virtually no dialogue, the comedy and its star became famous worldwide. Running for six years, Mr. Bean developed a cult following and by the late '90s had spawned a feature film.

Although he made strong showings in films like The Witches and Four Weddings and a Funeral, and lent his voice to the popular animated feature, The Lion King, Atkinson went back to television, with a new series, The Thin Blue Line. Based on the comical adventures of a police station, the show didn't fare well with audiences and only lasted two seasons.

During the late '90s he started having some commercial exposure for products like Barclaycard and M&M chocolate candy. Back into films by the start of the new millennium, Atkinson has landed roles in Maybe Baby (2000), Rat Race (2001) and Scooby-Doo (2002).

With wife Sunetra Sastry, Atkinson has fathered two children, Lily and Benejamin. While not on set, he focuses his attention on fast cars and writes for CAR, a British car magazine