Eyring was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the second child of Henry Eyring, the dean of the graduate school at the University of Utah and president of the American Chemical Society, and his wife Mildred Bennion. His father's sister, Camilla Eyring, married Spencer W. Kimball, making Henry B. the nephew of Spencer W. Kimball.

Eyring lived in Princeton until his early teenage years when his father took a post at the University of Utah and the family moved to Salt Lake City.

He spent two years in the U.S. Air Force, stationed at Sandia Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Eyring received his B.S. in physics from the University of Utah. He went on to earn a Masters and Doctorate in Business Administration from Harvard Business School before embarking on a career in academia.

Eyring has served twice as Commissioner of Church Education, first from September 1980 to April 1985 and most recently from September 1992 to January 2005, when he was replaced by W. Rolfe Kerr. Newsroom - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Eyring was an associate professor of business at the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1962 to 1971. He was also a Sloan Visiting Faculty Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Eyring served as president of Ricks College from 1971 to 1977, as a counselor to Presiding Bishop Robert D. Hales from 1985 to 1992, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy between 1992 and 1995.

Following the death of Church President Howard W. Hunter, Eyring was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the church on April 1, 1995 and ordained an apostle later that same week.

Eyring was sustained as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the church on October 6, 2007, filling the vacancy left by the death of President James E. Faust on August 10, 2007. He was called as the First Counselor in the First Presidency of the church on February 3, 2008 when the First Presidency was reorganized following the death of Gordon B. Hinckley. The new First Presidency, with Thomas S. Monson as president, was announced on February 4, 2008. The new First Presidency was ordained and set apart the day before.

Henry B. Eyring and his wife Kathleen Johnson have six children.