Nikos Christodoulides was born on 6 December 1973 in Yeroskipou, Paphos. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Economics, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies from City University of New York, Queens College, with postgraduate studies in Political Science at New York University and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta. He also holds a Doctorate from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens.

He was a career diplomat between 1999 and 2013. During this time he served as Director of the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spokesperson of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU in Brussels, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Cyprus in Greece, Director of the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Consul General at the High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus in the United Kingdom.

Prior to his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 1 March 2018, he served as Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic of Cyprus (2013-2018) and Government Spokesman (2014-2018).

He was a Lecturer and Research Associate at the Department of History and Archeology of the University of Cyprus between 2007 and 2010. He is the author of two books, Plans for Solution of the Cyprus Problem 1948-1978 (2009) and Relations between Athens and Nicosia and the Cyprus Problem, 1977-1988 (2013). He has also published extensively in domestic and international journals.

He is married to Philippa Karsera and has four daughters, Ioanna, Ekaterini, Despina-Maria, and Phoebe.