Cropp (who also uses the pen name Carl Conte), was born the son of an aeroplane engineer. After graduation from Gymnasium, Cropp studied civil engineering and business management, and graduated with a Diplom in civil engineering. In 1982, Cropp received an honorary degree in economics from the University of Munich.

Until 1996, he worked as chief executive and authorized agent for several major companies in Germany and abroad. In his spare time, he wrote books and scientific papers. After 1997, he devoted himself to writing and journalism. He has published 21 books, over 200 articles, reports, short stories and features and collaborated on several anthologies.

In 1983, Cropp's book, Alaska-Fieber (Alaska Fever) was named "Young Readers' Book of the Year" by the German Academy for Children's and Young People's Literature, in Volkach, Germany and in 2001, his book, Goldrausch in der Karibik (Goldrush in the Caribbean) was named "Book of the Year" by the reader's list of Die Welt.

In March 2002, Cropp was interviewed in Die Welt, about his son's proximity to an incident two days earlier in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed five coalition soldiers and injured eight. Two Germans were among the dead.

He is a member of the board of the Hamburg Authors' Union (German: Hamburger Autorenvereinigung e. V.) and a member of various associations and organizations, including the Overseas Club, the German-Czech Society (German: DeutscheTechnische Gesellschaft), the VS German Authors' Union (German: VS Verband Deutscher Schriftsteller), and the Friends of Foreign Education for officers at the Leadership Academy of the German Military (German: Freundeskreis Ausbildung ausländischer Offiziere an der Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr e. V.,). He is a founding member of the Association for Help for Guinea-Bissau (German: Hilfe für Guinea Bissau e. V.), an organization for which he is engaged in humanitarian and diplomatic missions.