Boorman started in the film Business appearing in films directed by his father at an early age. His first appearance was in Deliverance (1972).

According to Adam Savage, Boorman appeared with Ridley Scott's son, Luke, in the film Alien (1979 - uncredited).

Boorman attended three schools in Ireland: St Gerard's School (Bray, County Wicklow) and St Oliver Plunkett Primary School (Malahide, County Dublin), both Roman Catholic schools. He also attended the German-language medium school, St Kilians Deutsche Schule (Dublin). In England, he went on to attend Sibford School, a Quaker school near Banbury, Oxfordshire (from 1980-83), where he received extra lessons in a specialist department catering for pupils with dyslexia.

Boorman played a young Mordred in Excalibur (1981) (joined by his older sister Katrine Boorman who played Ygraine, Mordred's grandmother), then in 1985 played a leading role in The Emerald Forest. In 1987 he had a non-speaking role as a young German Luftwaffe pilot parachuting into a small village in Hope and Glory (his sister Katrine also appeared in that film).

His further acting appearances include The Serpent's Kiss (1997), on which he met Ewan McGregor, and The Bunker (2001).

In 2004, Ewan McGregor and Boorman decided to embark on an epic journey taking them from London to New York, which resulted in the hit television show Long Way Round, an international motorbike trip from London to New York City via Europe and Asia. This was recorded, then later made into a television series, book and DVD. The series was shown around the world and the DVD and book became best sellers. Critical responses was mixed, with one noting 'Boorman comes across as a copper-bottomed, ocean-going, 24-carat prick.'

Along with Producer Russ Malkin (from Long Way Round) and a motorbike team, Boorman competed in the 2006 Dakar Rally in January 2006. The event was filmed and the series Race to Dakar began on Sky2 in the United Kingdom in October 2006. During the rally Boorman injured himself and was forced to retire from the race after five days.

In 2007, he started another journey with McGregor: Long Way Down, a trip from John o' Groats in Scotland, to Cape Town, South Africa. This was televised on BBC2 starting in October 2007. During this initial programme, it became public knowledge that Boorman’s wife was undergoing treatment for pneumonia, but had insisted that he complete the trip.

In 2008, Boorman started By Any Means, which started in his hometown in County Wicklow, Ireland, ending in Sydney. He set out to complete the journey "by any means", using local transport appropriate to the area being travelled, and using air travel only when necessary.

In 2009, Boorman undertook a journey titled Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means, travelling from Sydney to Tokyo via the Pacific Rim. The programme documenting this trip has been shown on BBC2 in the UK.

In 2011, Boorman presented a prime-time adventure series for the UK's Channel 5, Charley Boorman's Extreme Frontiers. This show was another collaboration between Boorman and producer-director Russ Malkin, who made frequent on-screen appearances. Extreme Frontiers claimed to 'take in all four extremities of Canada'. Accompanying the show was book and DVD.

In 2012, Boorman continued the series in a South African setting. From 9 June to 22 July 2012, Boorman and his team journeyed around South Africa on two motorbikes and a 4-wheel vehicle.

Boorman and returned on Channel 5 at the end of 2013 for his next trip, which was in the US. Starting in Hawaii, he moves to Alaska, then to the Eastern seaboard and down to the Southern states, inland to the Gulf of Mexico, up again to the Rockies and finishing on the Pacific Coast at Los Angeles

In February 2014 and November 2016 Boorman presented Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Awards [2] at St James's Palace, on behalf of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.