Robin Riker was born on October 2, 1952 in New York City. Both of her parents were in theater.

Robin was nominated two times for an Ace Award as "Best Actress in a Comedy Series" for her role as Kelly Hall on Brothers. She has had recurring roles in The Glades, Boston Legal, Reba and Hung. Riker has guest starred on scores of other shows including Six Feet Under, Big Love as well as creating the role of The Witch, Catherine Madison on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Rockford Files, M*A*S*H, The A-Team, Airwolf, Murder, She Wrote, Sliders, Reba, Malcolm in the Middle, Pyramid, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch among other series. In May 2008, she signed a contract for the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful in the recast role of Beth Logan. Her first appearance was on June 18, 2008. This marked her second daytime soap opera after originating the role of Bonnie Lockhart in the NBC daytime soap Days of Our Lives in July 2000.

Riker continues to work in stages from Los Angeles to New York and to receive nominations for her work in the theatre. Recently, she provided the voice and motion capture for Lilith in the video game DmC: Devil May Cry. Her latest guest starred appearances include Justified, Last Man Standing, and she has a recurring role on The Glades. In May 2016, Riker was hired to portray the recurring role of Naomi Dreyfus on the ABC daytime soap General Hospital. She played the role from June 3, 2016 to September 21, 2016.