Ben Browder was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, earned a BS in psychology at Furman University, and then went on to study drama at Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England, where he met his wife, Francesca Buller. As of 2002, he resides in Australia, where the SciFi television series Farscape is filmed. He and Buller have two children, whose names and ages are not disclosed to the press.

After several appearances on stage, including traditional Shakespeare, Browder garnered a few minor appearances in feature films, including a small part as a rookie captain in Memphis Belle and the role of a short-lived boyfriend in A Kiss Before Dying, with Sean Young and Matt Dillon. He was first widely exposed to the American and Canadian television viewing audience as the recurring character of "Sam" on the series Party of Five. In 1999, Jim Henson productions teamed with the SciFi channel to produce Farscape, where Browder was cast to play the main character, American astronaut John Crichton.
Ben met his wife, Francesca Buller, while studying at London's Central School of Speech and Drama in 1989. Graduate of Furman University in Greenville, SC His favorite movie is Jeremiah Johnson, the concept of which was warped into an episode of his show, Farscape. Two of the series in which he has starred have featured an advanced alien race called the Ancients: Farscape and Stargate SG-1. Was considered for the role of Major Hayes on Star Trek: Enterprise. In Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, War Minister Ahkna (played by his real-life wife Francesca Buller) was killed by his on-screen wife Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black). His voice is quite similar to that of Kurt Russell. He is the only actor to appear in all 88 episodes of Farscape. He is a huge science fiction fan. He has appeared in Farscape, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars and Stargate SG-1 with Claudia Black. (He did not appear in Stargate SG-1 until 2005. ) He was considered for the role of Major John Sheppard in Stargate: Atlantis. He was later cast as Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell in Stargate SG-1.