Rindt was born in Mainz, Germany, to an Austrian mother and German father who both perished in a wartime bombing raid in Hamburg when he was fifteen months old. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in Graz, Austria, and although he retained German citizenship, he raced throughout his career under an Austrian licence. A restless and reckless youth, he was expelled from several schools, drove without a licence for eighteen months before being caught the day before he was eligible to obtain one, and accumulated eight recorded misdemeanours with the police. His fascination with motorsport crystallised when he attended the 1961 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring alongside a school friend who would later become an F1 driver himself, Helmut Marko.
Rindt drove his first race in 1961 at the Flugplatzrennen in his grandmother's Simca Montlhery, where he was black-flagged for dangerous driving. After modest early results in rallies, he obtained a race-prepared Alfa Romeo GT 1300 and won eight events in it. In 1963 he moved to Formula Junior with a Cooper T67 and showed immediate promise, winning his second race at Cesenatico.
His talent in Formula Two was exceptional. Competing in Brabham machinery, Rindt amassed 29 Formula Two victories over his career. In 1967 he dominated the category, winning nine races and earning the press label "king of Formula 2," though as a graded Formula One driver his results did not count toward the championship title, which went to Jacky Ickx.
Alongside his single-seater commitments, Rindt entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times. His debut in 1964, sharing a Ferrari 250LM with David Piper, ended in retirement before he even took the wheel. The following year brought one of the race's most improbable victories: partnered with American Masten Gregory in a Ferrari 250LM entered by NART, neither driver expected to finish a seemingly uncompetitive car. After early mechanical trouble, including the car refusing to restart during Gregory's first pit stop and then continuing on only six of twelve cylinders, Rindt had already changed into civilian clothes expecting their race to be over. Following thirty minutes of repairs, the two agreed to drive "flat out" for the remainder of the event. Rindt drove most of the night, moving the car from 18th to third by dawn, and the pair won. Jacky Ickx described them as having driven "like maniacs."
Rindt made his Formula One debut at the 1964 Austrian Grand Prix in a borrowed Brabham, retiring with a broken steering column. He joined Cooper for 1965, partnering Bruce McLaren, but the team was struggling. A move to Brabham for 1968 again produced limited results, the Repco V8 uncompetitive against the Cosworth DFV, though he took two third-place finishes.
For 1969 Rindt signed with Lotus, a move he made with considerable reluctance given the team's notorious unreliability — he told one interviewer: "At Lotus, I can either be world champion or die." His doubts were swiftly reinforced at the Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuic, where wing failures on both his car and Graham Hill's caused high-speed accidents. Rindt walked away with only a broken nose but was furious with team owner Colin Chapman. Despite retiring from seven races that season due to mechanical failures, he recorded his maiden Formula One victory at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, earning the largest monetary prize in Formula One history at the time — $50,000.
The 1970 season brought Rindt a competitive weapon in the revolutionary Lotus 72, with its side-mounted radiators, torsion bar suspension, and inboard brakes. After an early setback at Monaco where he was forced to use the older Lotus 49, he produced what his race engineer Herbie Blash called "the race of his life," overtaking Jack Brabham when the leader braked too late and went into the straw bales on the final corner of the final lap. Rindt went on to win four consecutive Grands Prix — France, Britain, Germany, and the Dutch event at Zandvoort where he had first raced the revised Lotus 72.
By the time the championship arrived at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, Rindt held a commanding lead. To reduce drag on the high-speed circuit, Lotus ran without rear wings. On 5 September 1970, during his fifth practice lap, Rindt's car veered into the guardrail approaching the Parabolica corner. Investigation determined the right front inboard brake shaft had failed. Because Rindt wore his harness without crotch straps — wanting to exit quickly in case of fire — he slid under the belts on impact and the straps fatally slit open his throat. He was pronounced dead on the way to hospital in Milan.
Rindt's closest rival Jacky Ickx was unable to score sufficient points in the remaining rounds of the season to overhaul his lead, and Rindt was formally awarded the World Championship posthumously. The trophy was presented to his widow Nina by Jackie Stewart on 18 November 1970 near the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
His success sparked mass interest in motorsport in Austria. He had organised the first Austrian motor racing exhibition — the Jochen-Rindt-Show in Vienna — in 1965, which attracted 30,000 visitors on its opening weekend alone; the event later moved to Essen where it continues as the Essen Motor Show. He hosted a monthly Austrian television programme called Motorama and worked alongside Jackie Stewart in campaigning for improved safety in Formula One. A corner at the Red Bull Ring in Austria bears his name. Formula Two's pre-1972 historic championship category in the United Kingdom is called the Class A Jochen Rindt Trophy.