Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teenage years. At 17, Nicolas moved back to his native Copenhagen to complete his high-school Education. After graduation, he swiftly flew back to New York, where he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

A short film Refn had written, directed, and starred in was aired on a cable TV channel and he was spotted and offered 3.2 million kroners to turn the short into a feature. At only 24, Refn had written and directed the extremely violent and uncompromising Pusher (1996), which became a cult phenomenon and won instant international critical acclaim. The success of his debut spurred him to push the boundaries of his creative filmmaking further, which resulted in the close-to-the-edge and intricately gritty Bleeder (1999). Highly stylized and focused on introverted reactions to outward situations, this film was a marking point for the shaping of Nicolas's future career. The movie was selected for the 1999 Venice International Film Festival as well as winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize in Sarajevo. Refn's third feature, Fear X (2003) was also his first foray into English-language movies. Starring the award-winning actor John Turturro, Fear X made its world premiere at the Sundance Film festival.

In just two years he managed to write, direct and produce two sequels: Pusher II (2004) e Pusher 3 (2005). In 2005, the Toronto Film Festival held a Pusher retrospective showing all three features cementing its worldwide phenomenon.

In 2006 Refn embarked on a second English-language (and first digital) feature called Valhalla Rising (2009), which was inspired by a story his mother read to him at the age of five about a father and son who embark on a trip to the moon. During the pre-production on Valhalla Rising, his longtime collaborator and friend, Rupert Preston, urged him into accepting an offer to write and direct Bronson (2008), an ultra-violent, surreal, and escapist film following the real-life landmarks and self-entrapment of Charles Bronson, Britain's most notorious criminal. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival selected the blistering film for its World Cinema Dramatic Competition and it soon became the talk of the festival. With such a prestigious premiere, "Bronson" went on to be selected for other major international film festivals and reap strong box-office rewards.

With such critical acclaim, Refn's reputation as a producer, writer and director was solidly affirmed. In 2011, he presented in competition at Cannes Film Festival, the action movie Drive, starring Ryan Gosling, which earned him Best Director Award. After the great success of Drive, the director and the actor were immediately launched a new project: the film Only God Forgive, presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival before its release in 2013. In 2014 is chosen  by Jane Campion to be member of the 67th Cannes Film Festival’s official jury and in 2016 he come back again at Cannes competition for the Palme D’Or with the horror movie The Neon Demon.

Refn has received two lifetime-achievement awards, one from the Taipei International Film festival in 2006 and the second from the Valencia International Film Festival in 2007, and also the Emerging Master Award from the Philadelphia International Film Festival 2005.