Bob Odenkirk grew up in Naperville, Illinois. He was the second child of seven. He produced his own comedy program for Southern Illinois University student radio. He spent several years in Chicago as a stand-up comic. In 1987 Bob was hired as a writer for "Saturday Night Live" 1987-1991, and went on to win an Emmy for his work. He then moved on to write for "Get a Life". He wrote and performed for "The Ben Stiller Show" and won another Emmy. Bob also made appearances on The Larry Saunders show as Stevie Grant (Larry's hyperactive agent). He also was a writer for the show. Then Bob hooked up with David Cross who was a stand-up comedian and they formulated a live/video sketch show for HBO (Mr. Show With Bob and David) which he and David hosted.


Brother of Bill Odenkirk. He wrote Chris Farley's "Matt Foley, motivational speaker" character when they were both at Second City in Chicago.