As a child, he produced a number of short films on Super 8 and video before beginning his studies as a film director in Munich and Vienna. He also studied literature and economics in Cologne and Siegen. Uwe graduated from university in 1995 with a doctorate in literature. From 1995-2000, he was a producer and director with Taunus Film-Produktions GmbH. Boll is currently Chief Executive Officer of Boll Filmproduction and Distribution GmbH which he founded in 1992. In 2000 he founded Boll KG and continues to direct, write and produce feature films.


As of 2008, all four of the films he has directed that were based upon video games, House of the Dead (2003), Alone in the Dark (2005), BloodRayne (2005) and BloodRayne II: Deliverance (2007) (V) were listed on the IMDb Bottom 100. Most of the other films he's directed, including Heart of America (2002), Blackwoods (2002) and Das erste Semester (1997) are not widely available in America, but have received similarly low ratings among those who have seen them. Having directed 14 movies up to 2008 Boll reached an average IMDb rating of 2,4 (2.44 to be precise). His favorite film of 2005 is Sin City (2005). Challenged his critics in June 2006 to "put up or shut up". His production company issued a press release stating that Boll would challenge his 5 harshest critics each to a 10-round boxing match. To be eligible, the critic must have written two extremely negative reviews of Boll, in print or on the Web, in 2005. Footage of the fights will be included in his upcoming film Postal (2007). His favorite console is the SNES. Has worked with Robin Morningstar on a proposed film of Konami property Contra, which either has resulted in the mock Uwe Boll's Contra trailer by fans on the internet, or the fanbase was unknowingly ironic in its timing. Despite several Razzie Award nominations, including one "win" for Worst Director, not one of the films he has directed has been awarded the Razzie for Worst Picture. Lists The Searchers (1956), Taxi Driver (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), Citizen Kane (1941), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Breaking the Waves (1996) as some of his favorite films.