Goodkind was born in 1948 and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended schooling in art and Catholic Catechism Instruction.

Goodkind learned early in his life that he suffered from dyslexia, a cause of constant frustration while he was in high school. He later dropped out of college and has worked as a carpenter, a violin maker, and a restorer of rare and exotic artifacts and antiques. Before starting his career as a writer, Goodkind was best known for his realistic marine and wildlife paintings. In 1993, during the construction of his home on the forested Mount Desert Island off the coast of Maine with his wife Jeri, he began to write his first novel, Wizard's First Rule, and his writing career was launched with its publication in 1994. In addition to his home in Maine, Goodkind and his wife built a second home in the desert southwest where he now spends the majority of his time.

Goodkind's first book, Wizard's First Rule, was auctioned to publishers in 1994 for six times more than the record price previously paid for a first fantasy novel. It had a first print run of 60,000 copies, where 3,000—5,000 is more usual, and became an international bestseller.

Goodkind has subsequently published 11 other novels and one novella to great commercial success. All of his books, with the exceptions of Stone of Tears and Wizard's First Rule, have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. Of his latest novels, Chainfire, debuted at #3; in January 2005, Phantom at #1 in August 2006; and Confessor at #2 in November 2007 on the NYT Best Sellers List.

While he acknowledges writing in the fantasy genre, he perceives his novels to be more than just traditional fantasy because of their focus on philosophical and human themes. Goodkind believes that using the fantasy genre allows him to better tell his stories and better convey the human themes and emotions that he desires to share with the reader. Regardless of the genre of his novels, Goodkind states his main goal in writing is to inspire.

Goodkind has been largely influenced by the books of Ayn Rand and is a strong supporter of her works and of Objectivist philosophy.

Goodkind's novels include the following:

The Sword of Truth series

• Wizard's First Rule (1994)
• Stone of Tears (1995)
• Blood of the Fold (1996)
• Temple of the Winds (1997)
• Soul of the Fire (1999)
• Faith of the Fallen (2000)
• Debt of Bones (2001)
• The Pillars of Creation (2002)
• Naked Empire (2003)
• Chainfire (2005)
• Phantom (2006)
• Confessor (2007)
• The Omen Machine (2011)

Sword of Truth related fiction

• The Law of Nines (2009)

Goodkind wrote a novella titled Debt of Bones for the 1998 anthology Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg. The novel takes place in the Sword of Truth universe and is set a few decades before the events in the main series. In 2001, the story was published as a stand-alone book.

The last book in the current story arc, titled Confessor, was released on November 13, 2007.

In June 2008, Goodkind signed a contract to publish three mainstream novels with G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin Books.The first of these novels is titled The Law of Nines, and was released August 18, 2009.

In April 2010, Goodkind signed a contract to publish three fiction novels with Tor Books. The first of these will be a new Richard and Kahlan novel. The teaser announcement was released April 1st, on Terry Goodkind's official website. The title of the new Richard and Kahlan novel was announced on June 14th 2010. The new novel will be called The Omen Machine and will be published in early 2011 by Tor Books.

On July 24, 2006,, it was originally announced that the Sword of Truth series would be produced as a mini-series. According to the press release, Sam Raimi, the director of Spider-Man, and Joshua Dohen would produce the mini-series. However, in January 2008, it was announced that a full series would be produced instead by ABC Studios. As of Comic-Con 2008, the series was dubbed Legend of the Seeker. Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Joshua Donen, and Ned Nalle served as executive producers. The first episode aired in syndication on November 1, 2008. The show lasted for two seasons, with the final episode airing the weekend of May 22, 2010.