Orzabal met Curt Smith while both were in their early teens in Bath, Somerset. In the late-1970s, they formed a mod music group, Graduate, along with three other members. Following the release of their debut album, Acting My Age, the group disbanded and Orzabal and Smith went on to form Tears for Fears, a new wave/synthpop outfit directly inspired by the writings of the American Psychologist Arthur Janov.

In 1985, Orzabal gained considerable press attention for his strained relationship with his father and a humorous cartoon was printed in the UK tabloid The Sun pertaining to this. The cartoon was later reprinted within the cover artwork for the Tears for Fears single "I Believe".

As a Songwriter, Orzabal is a two-time Ivor Novello Award winner. His first award was in 1986 for "Songwriter of the Year" following the release of Tears for Fears' second album Songs from the Big Chair for which Orzabal wrote or co-wrote all of the tracks.

In addition to co-producing most of Tears for Fears' records, Orzabal also co-produced Oleta Adams' album Circle of One (1990), following on from Adams' collaboration on the 1989 Tears for Fears album The Seeds of Love. The album reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 20 in the US, and featured her transatlantic top ten hit "Get Here". Orzabal also co-wrote the lead track "Rhythm of Life" for the album, which was originally intended for The Seeds of Love. As well as playing guitar and singing backing vocals on the track, he also appeared in the song's accompanying promo video.

In 1999, Orzabal co-produced the Icelandic singer-songwriter Emiliana Torrini's album Love in the Time of Science, along with Tears for Fears associate Alan Griffiths. The pair also wrote two tracks for the album.

Orzabal's talents as a Songwriter were recognised again after Michael Andrews and Gary Jules recorded the song "Mad World" for the film Soundtrack Donnie Darko in 2001. Their version was released as a single in 2003 and became the Christmas number one single in the UK that year, ultimately becoming the year's biggest selling single. The song was originally composed by Orzabal and was Tears for Fears' first hit single in 1982. In 2004, the song won Orzabal his second Ivor Novello Award, as the Songwriter of the Best Selling UK Single of 2003.

Orzabal has written a novel, a romantic comedy entitled Sex, Drugs & Opera, published in 2014. It tells the story of a middle-aged pop star, Solomon Capri, who is semi-retired but is approached to take part in the reality show Popstar to Operastar which he sees as a way to rejuvenate his career and his waning marriage. The story was inspired by Orzabal's own experience as he was approached by the ITV show himself, though did not take part.

Orzabal married his wife Caroline (née Johnston) at Bath Register Office in 1982. They have two sons, Raoul (b.1991) and Pascal (b.1994). Caroline can be heard singing the child vocal on the Tears for Fears song "Suffer the Children" from the band's debut album The Hurting, and also drew the "hands" cover artwork for the 1983 re-release of "Pale Shelter". In July 2017, Caroline passed away from natural causes. The remaining shows on the tour (co-headlining with Hall and Oates) were postponed, so Roland could mourn. Roland resumed the tour on September 14, 2017, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.