Born in Valentigney, Doubs, Boillot trained as a mechanic before entering automobile racing in 1908. He joined drivers Paul Zuccarelli and Jules Goux at Peugeot, where the trio played a central role in developing a revolutionary range of racing cars. Boillot debuted with Peugeot in the 1909 Coupe de l'Auto at Rambouillet and in 1910 competed in the Targa Florio in Italy.
At Dieppe on 26 June 1912, Boillot won the French Grand Prix driving the Peugeot L76, a car designed by Swiss engineer Ernest Henry in collaboration with Zuccarelli, Goux, and Boillot himself. The L76 was significant as the first production motor car in the world to feature an engine with two overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder — a configuration that would become the template for high-performance engines across the following century.
Boillot won the Coupe de l'Auto in 1913 and that same year claimed his second straight French Grand Prix victory at Amiens, making him the first driver to win the prestigious race twice. His performances made him the darling of French racing fans and a symbol of national pride in the sport.
In 1914 Boillot travelled to Indianapolis with the Peugeot team. During qualifying he came tantalisingly close to breaking the 100 miles per hour barrier, setting a new speed record of 99.86 mph (160.70 km/h). In the race itself he suffered repeated tyre trouble and finished 14th.
The 1914 French Grand Prix at Lyon proved to be Boillot's last race. He drove brilliantly under extreme pressure, keeping his ailing Peugeot near the lead even as the car was literally falling apart around him. On the final lap his engine overheated and he was forced to retire, allowing the Mercedes team led by Christian Lautenschlager to score a celebrated 1-2-3 finish. The defeat was particularly painful for French spectators given the deteriorating international situation in the days immediately following the assassination in Sarajevo. The race proved to be the last Grand Prix before the outbreak of World War I.
With the outbreak of war Boillot joined the French Air Force. Initially assigned as a personal driver for General Joseph Joffre, commander-in-chief of the French armies, he used his renowned fast driving to help Joffre maintain oversight of French forces across multiple fronts. Frustrated by his distance from the front, he requested combat duties and became a fighter ace.
On 21 April 1916 his aircraft was shot down in a dogfight with five German Fokkers near Bar-le-Duc. He destroyed one of the German planes before being brought down himself. Severely injured in the crash, he died in a military hospital at Vadelaincourt, Meuse, on 19 May 1916. For his service as a pilot he was awarded the War Cross and made a knight of the Legion of Honour. He was deemed Mort pour la France and in 1921 was interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Several streets in France bear Boillot's name, and a school in Montlhéry in the Essonne département near Paris is named in his honour. His brother André also became a racing driver and won the 1919 Targa Florio after the war's end. Boillot's son Jean later served as director-general of Peugeot Talbot Sport and in 1981 was instrumental in bringing Peugeot back into rallying. Georges Boillot is remembered both as one of the finest racing drivers of the pre-war era and as a war hero whose career was cut short at the height of his powers.