Altin was born in London to a Turkish family. His first appearance in a television series was his role as Garry in the drama series Psychos. His first appearance on a major British television series came in 2004 when he played a machine strimmer in Blackpool. Over the years, Altin has appeared on The Bill several times in different roles; from 2006–2007 he played Jay Henderson, and in 2009 he played Peter Balmaine. After his appearance on The Bill he became a somewhat sought after actor and received many more roles over the coming years, performing in both television series and films multiple times a year.

In 2007, Altin appeared in two films, the first of which being Boy A, where he played Bully, and what is perhaps the biggest budget film he has starred in, Eastern Promises, where he played Ekrem.

2015 saw Altin starring in two films Narcopolis and Child 44. In 2016, Atlin starred in the short film, 'I Dream of Zombies'.

On television, in 2017 Altin appeared in the E4 sitcom, Chewing Gum, as Ryan, and portrayed Prince Rasselas, a young molly boy who plies his trade on the streets of Covent Garden, in the Hulu Original, Harlots. In 2018, Altin played Willem Van Burgen, a disturbed paedophile serial killer suffering from syphilis, who comes from a wealthy family, in the TNT period drama, The Alienist.