Tyler was born on May 8, 1972, and raised in Orange County, California. His grandfather was art director Walter H. Tyler, and one of his earliest musical influences was his pianist grandmother. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master's degree from Harvard University. A dedicated autodidact, Tyler taught himself to play dozens of instruments including drums, piano, guitar, bass, cello, charango, bouzouki, world percussion, and synthesizer.
Tyler began scoring features shortly after graduating from Harvard. His first film score was for the independent production Bartender (1997), followed by Six-String Samurai (1998). His breakthrough came with Frailty (2001), which led to The Hunted (2003). For the television film Last Call (2002), he earned his first of three Emmy nominations, a gold record, and induction into the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Tyler rose to prominence scoring large franchise films. He composed seven installments of the Fast & Furious series, four and fifth entries in the Rambo and Final Destination franchises, all three films of The Expendables series, and Eagle Eye. His work entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World — for which he also composed the 2013–2016 Marvel Studios logo fanfare that debuted with the film — and Avengers: Age of Ultron alongside Danny Elfman. He scored Crazy Rich Asians, the Now You See Me franchise, the fifth and sixth Scream films, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie and its sequel.
Tyler also created the current arrangement of the Universal Pictures logo fanfare, originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith, which debuted with The Lorax (2012) to mark Universal's 100th anniversary.
Among Tyler's most enduring compositions in the motorsport world is the Formula One theme he wrote in 2018, which is also used for Formula 2, Formula 3, and the F1 Academy. The theme is heard globally at race weekends and broadcasts, making it one of the most widely recognised pieces of sports music. He also composed the NFL Sunday Countdown theme for ESPN and the official anthem for the Esports World Cup, titled Dare to Triumph (2024).
Tyler composed the score for the Paramount Network drama Yellowstone and its prequel series 1883 and 1923, all in collaboration with Breton Vivian. These long-running productions extended his profile significantly into prestige television.
Tyler won the IFMCA Award for Composer of the Year in 2014. He has received three Emmy nominations in total. His films have collectively earned a global box office approaching $20 billion as of April 2026. He also maintains an electronic music project under the alias Are We Dreaming.