Gervais, along with siblings Larry, Marsha, and Bob, was raised in the suburb of Whitley in Reading, Berkshire. Gervais's father Jerry, a Franco-Ontarian, emigrated while on foreign duty during the Second World War from London, Ontario, Canada. Jerry met Gervais's mother, Eva, during a blackout, and both settled in Whitley.

During Xfm London's The Ricky Gervais Show and in further newspaper interviews with The Independent, Gervais noted that he believes his birth was unplanned due to the age difference between his youngest sibling and himself. During one interview with the Independent, Gervais tells the author that even his mother admitted his birth was unplanned.

Gervais has stated that his upbringing and childhood were stable and trauma-free, with a high level of honesty and openness between his family members.

Gervais began his secondary education at Ashmead School, before moving on to University College London in 1979. While there, he studied Biology, and later changed to Philosophy, in which he received a lower second class honours. It was during his time at UCL that at he met his long-time girlfriend, Jane Fallon.

Gervais contributed to the BAFTA winning The Sketch Show (ITV) penning several sketches. His mainstream TV debut came in September 1998 as part of Channel 4's "Comedy Lab" series of pilots. His one-off show, Golden Years, focused on a David Bowie-obsessed character called Clive Meadows. He then came to much wider national attention with an obnoxious, cutting persona featured in a topical slot which replaced Ali G's segments on the satirical Channel 4 comedy programme The 11 O'Clock Show in early 1999 where his character used as many expletives as was possible and produced an inordinate amount of politically incorrect statements. Among the other regular featured comedians on the show was Mackenzie Crook, later a co-star of The Office. Two years later Gervais went on to present his own comedy chat show for Channel 4 called Meet Ricky Gervais; it was poorly received and has since been mocked by Gervais himself.

Throughout this time Gervais also wrote for BBC sketch show Bruiser and The Jim Tavare Show, and had cameo roles in Channel 4's sitcom Spaced; it is speculated that the cameo is indeed The Office character David Brent. However both series of Spaced finished airing before The Office premiered. Gervais also appeared in a few of Channel 4's 'Top 100...' list programmes, and voiced the character of Penguin in Robbie the Reindeer's Legend of the Lost Tribe. His voice was redubbed for the US market.

On 5 January 2006, he interviewed Larry David, in a one off special, Ricky Gervais Meets... Larry David. On 25 December and 26 December of the same year, Channel 4 aired similar specials where he interviewed the actor/comedian Christopher Guest and infamously Garry Shandling. There are no plans for further episodes of "Meets...", although editions with John Cleese and Matt Groening were recorded in 2006, for broadcast in 2007. A source claimed "The Shandling experience put him off for good."

In August 1999, while on a BBC production course, Stephen Merchant had to make his own short subject. He chose to make a docu-soap parody, set in an office. This sketch later formed the basis of the interview episode. With help from Ash Atalla, Merchant passed this tape onto to the BBC's Head of Entertainment Paul Jackson at the Edinburgh Fringe, who then passed it onto Head of Comedy Jon Plowman who eventually commissioned a full pilot script from Merchant and Gervais.

The first six-episode series of The Office aired in the UK in July and August 2001 to little fanfare or attention. Word-of-mouth, repeats and DVDs helped spread the word, building up huge momentum and anticipation for the second series, also comprising six episodes, in September 2002. The second series topped the BBC Two ratings, and the show then switched to BBC One in December 2003 for its final two special episodes.

The Office has since been remade for audiences in France, Germany, Quebec, and the United States. Gervais and Merchant are producers of the American version, and also co-wrote the episode "The Convict" for the show's third season.

Extras debuted on the BBC on 21 July 2005; it premiered on HBO in the United States in September 2005. Written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the sitcom ran for twelve episodes, and starred Gervais as Andy Millman, a background artist. Millman is more self-aware and intentionally humorous than Gervais' The Office character David Brent.

Guest stars on the first series of Extras include Ross Kemp, Les Dennis, Patrick Stewart, Vinnie Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet and Francesca Martinez. A second series began on 14 September 2006 in the UK and featured appearances by Daniel Radcliffe, Orlando Bloom, Sir Ian McKellen, Chris Martin, Keith Chegwin, Robert Lindsay, Warwick Davis, Ronnie Corbett, Stephen Fry, Richard Briers, Patricia Potter, Sophia Myles, Moira Stuart, David Bowie, Robert De Niro and Jonathan Ross.

A Christmas special of Extras aired on December 27, 2007 in the UK and December 16, 2007 in the US, featuring guest appearances by George Michael, Clive Owen, Gordon Ramsay, Jonathan Ross and David Tennant.

On 10 June 2006, Gervais and Merchant were seen in a specially-filmed promotional sketch for Extras 2 in the middle of BBC1's World Cup football coverage. This time, Gervais did not perform his famous dance. Instead, Merchant did - a take-off of the Crouch Dance, recently popularised by England striker Peter Crouch.

Gervais has acknowledged being influenced by Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show in making Extras, particularly in the format of celebrities making fools of themselves or subverting their public personas, and the Gervais joke of someone making inappropriate remarks in front of a member of a minority. He has interviewed both Larry David and Garry Shandling, creators of these shows, on Ricky Gervais Meets...