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Peter Chelsom was born in Blackpool, in the North of England. He trained as a photographer, but then won a place at London's Central School of Drama. For the next ten years he worked as an actor, playing leading roles in television series, films and in the theatre for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre. It was while his acting career was flourishing that he chose to turn to writing and directing. Between 1985 and 1989, Peter was a director of the film and television course at the Central School of Drama. He also taught at the Actor's Institute and ran a course for New York actors at Cornell University for the Royal Court Theatre.

In 1987, he was chosen as one of five directors for the Channel Four/British Screen project for cinema directors, writing and directing TREACLE, a film set in his hometown. Highly acclaimed, it won him a BAFTA nomination and invitations to festivals all over the world, including New York. His first full length feature was the very successful and critically acclaimed romantic comedy HEAR MY SONG, inspired by the life of a charismatic Irish tenor, played by Ned Beatty. The film's Royal Premiere was attended by Princess Diana and among its awards, the film garnered the Best Newcomer from the Evening Standard British Film Awards.

Chelsom's second film was FUNNY BONES starring Oliver Platt, Jerry Lewis, Leslie Caron and newcomer Lee Evans, which garnered more critical success and the Best Picture award at five European film festivals. It won him the Peter Sellers Award for comedy at the British Film Awards. He then directed THE MIGHTY, based on the best-selling, award-winning book Freak the Mighty, and starring Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson, Gena Rowlands, Harry Dean Stanton and Kieran Culkin; and TOWN AND COUNTRY, which starred Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling. Chelsom most recently directed the successful romantic comedy SERENDIPITY starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale as two people who test their love at first sight by letting destiny decide if they should be together.

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