He was born on March 26, 1976 in Afyon.

He completed his secondary and high school education in Izmir. In 2001, she graduated from Eskişehir Anadolu University Theater Department. During her university education, she became known for her role as Gülsüm in the series İkinci Bahar.

In 2002, she rose to fame with her role as Bahar Karadağ in the TV series Asmalı Konak directed by Çağan Irmak. In the same year, she starred in the movie Mumya Firarda with Teoman.

In 2003, she shared the lead role with Özcan Deniz in Asmalı Konak-Hayat, the sequel to the series Asmalı Konak directed by Abdullah Oğuz. She received the "Best Actress" award at the 12th Adana Golden Boll Film Festival in 2005 for her role as Kostak Emine in the movie Eğreti Gelin (The Disguised Bride) directed by Atıf Yılmaz. In the same year, she starred in the series "Island of Angels" with Hande Ataizi. She married Cem Özer, who starred in the same series, on October 26, 2004. She left the series "Island of Angels" in the last month of her pregnancy.

On May 22, 2005, she gave birth to her son Osman Nejat. On December 24, 2010, she divorced Cem Özer.

Again in 2004, she played the character Saliha in the movie Anlat İstanbul, directed by five directors. In the 2005-2006 season, she shared the lead role with Berna Laçin and Kenan Işık in the TV series Belalı Baldız on ATV.

In 2006, she starred in the theater play "Sen Olmasaydayd" with Cem Özer. In September 2006, she started the filming of the movie Yaşamın Kıyında (The Edge of Life), which was written, directed and produced by Fatih Akın.

The film, in which she portrayed a Turkish girl named Ayten Öztürk with great success, was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and won the "Best Screenplay" award.

In 2007, she played Ezo Gelin in the TV series Ezo Gelin. She took part in the main jury of the 31st International Cairo Film Festival, one of the most important film festivals in the Middle East, chaired by the famous British director Nicolas Roeg.

In 2007, she gave a perfect performance as Hacer in the movie Adem'in Trenleri directed by Barış Pirhasan. For her performance in this movie, she won the "Best Actress" award at the 13th Sadri Alışık Actress Awards. In addition, the "Best Actress" Award at the 15th Annual Actress Awards of the Contemporary Cinema Actors' Association (ÇASOD) was presented to Nurgül Yeşilçay for her effective and natural performance in two very different roles in two different films, Yaşamın Kıy Kıyında and Adem'in Trenleri.

On April 5-20, 2008, she took part in the national competition jury of the 27th International Istanbul Film Festival, chaired by Semin Kaplanoğlu. On May 26, 2008, she played different roles such as a factory worker named Aydanur, a woman working in a pavilion and a woman wearing a turban in Golden Bear winner director Erden Kıral's film Vicdan, which started shooting on May 26, 2008. For her role here, she was awarded the "Best Actress" Award at the 45th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival.

She shared the lead role with Murat Yıldırım in the series "Aşk Ve Ceza", which started broadcasting in January 2010.

In 2011, she starred in the series "Sensiz Olma "z on Show TV.

In 2014, she starred with Nursel Köse, Ebru Özkan, Cemal Hünal in the series "Paramparça", in which she shared the lead role with Erkan Petekkaya.