Wolfgang Becker studied German studies, history and American studies at the Freie Universität Berlin until1979. In 1981, he began studying at the Deutschen Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB). He majored there in cinematography and assisted Michael Ballhaus and Istvan Szabó. Becker lives in Berlin.

Becker debuted as a director in 1987 with his film Schmetterlinge, which also was his DFFB graduation film. The film won the Student Academy Award for Best Student Film, the Golden Leopard at the Locarno Film Festival and the Preis des saarländischen Ministerpräsidenten at the Max Ophüls Festival. He subsequently directed the Tatort episode Blutwurstwalzer and the drama Kinderspiele. In 1994, he founded the film production company X Filme with directors Tom Tykwer, Dani Levy and the producer Stefan Arndt Becker. Life Is All You Get was Becker’s first feature film in 1997. The film was screened in competition at the Berlinale and generally received good reviews. Becker’s film Good Bye, Lenin!  was a box office hit in 2003, and won numerous awards and nominations in Germany and internationally. In 2013, Wolfgang Becker directed an adaptation of Daniel Kehlmann’s novel Ich und Kaminski.