Adam Douglas Driver was born in San Diego, California. His mother, Nancy (Needham) Wright, is a paralegal from Mishawaka, Indiana, and his father, Joe Douglas Driver, who has deep roots in the American South, is from Little Rock, Arkansas. His stepfather is a Baptist minister. His ancestry includes Dutch, English, German, Irish and Scottish. Driver was raised in Mishawaka after his parents' divorce, attending Mishawaka High School, where he appeared in plays. After 9/11, he enlisted in the Marines, serving for more than two years before being medically discharged after he suffered an injury, which prevented him from being deployed.

Driver attended the University of Indianapolis (for a year) and then transferred to study drama at Juilliard School in New York City, graduating in 2009. He began acting in plays, appearing on Broadway, before being cast inLena Dunham's seriesGirls (2012), as her character's love interest, Adam Sackler. The role gained him attention, and he subsequently began a robust film career, appearing in small roles inJ. Edgar (2011) andLincoln (2012), supporting roles inFrances Ha (2012) andInside Llewyn Davis (2013), and then to major mesmerizing roles like in the comedy-dramaThis Is Where I Leave You (2014),Martin Scorsese'sSilence (2016) and as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars movie saga beginning withSutâ wôzu: Fôsu no kakusei (2015).

Widely regarded as the one of greatest actors of his generation by now both in the United States and internationally as his superb qualities have been expressed further in a sublime range of excellent performances full of unique profoundness, subtlety, charisma and insights such as the ones included in brilliant films likePaterson (2016),Logan Lucky (2017),The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) andThe Report (2019). His interpretations inBlacKkKlansman (2018) andMarriage Story (2019) were also nominated in the Academy Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role respectively.