Backman grew up in Helsingborg, Scania, Sweden. He has been writing for the Swedish newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad and for the Swedish men's magazine, Moore Magazine. Backman debuted as a novelist in 2012 with A Man Called Ove. The novel was adapted as a film which premiered on December 25, 2015, and again in 2023. The rights to his book Beartown were bought by Swedish production company, Filmlance, and are set to be adapted for television. Many of his books have been translated into English. After his debut novel, A Man Called Ove, was translated into English, it remained on the best seller list for 42 weeks. Following the success of his first book, Atria bought the rights to his other novels and had them translated into English.