Ulmen was born in Neuwied. He started his television career in 1996 as a video jockey on MTV Europe. He is known for his creative, and sometimes provocative, humour, which he displayed in TV shows such as Unter Ulmen or Mein neuer Freund, the German adaptation of Channel 4's My New Best Friend, and the award-winning TV series Dr. Psycho – Die Bösen, die Bullen, meine Frau und ich. Ulmen has also appeared in leading roles in successful cinema productions including Berlin Blues (2003), the screenplay Atomised (2006), based on Michel Houellebecq's novel of the same title, and Men in the City directed by Simon Verhoeven and released in October 2009.

From 2013 to 2021, Ulmen and Nora Tschirner played a team of investigators who also happen to be a couple, in the Weimar-based episodes of the Tatort series.^[1]

Ulmen is agnostic.

Ulmen met his future wife Huberta in 1999 and they eventually married in 2005. They have a son together, but divorced in 2010.

In August 2010, Ulmen met Collien Fernandes and the couple married on 22 June 2011. They welcomed their first child in April 2012.

• Berlin Blues (2003), as Herr Lehmann
• Rosa Roth: Flucht nach vorn (2005, TV series episode), as Harald Förster
• The Fisherman and His Wife [de] (2005), as Otto
• Atomised (2006), as Michael Djerzinski
• FC Venus [de] (2006), as Paul
• Dr. Psycho (2007–2008, TV series, 14 episodes), as Dr. Max Munzl
• Schade um das schöne Geld [de] (2008, TV film), as Bruno Karras
• Men in the City (2009), as Günther Stobanski
• Jerry Cotton (2010), as Phil Decker
• Hochzeitspolka [de] (2010), as Frieder Schulz
• Vater Morgana (2010), as Lutz Stielike
• Jonas [de] (2011), as Jonas
• Don't You Believe It! [de] (2012), as Georg
• Tatort (since 2013, TV series, 9 episodes), as Kommissar Lessing
• Everything is Love [de] (2014), as Viktor
• Beck's Last Summer [de] (2015), as Robert Beck
• Macho Man [de] (2015), as Daniel Hagenberger

• 2010 (Audible): Douglas Adams: Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), publisher: der Hörverlag, ISBN 978-3867173698
• 2011: Ian McEwan: Psychopolis, publisher: Diogenes Hörbuch, ISBN 978-3257800777

• 2003 Bayerischer Filmpreis (Bavarian Film Award), Best Actor, for his role in Herr Lehmann
• 2007 Bayerischer Fernsehpreis (Bavarian TV Award), Best Actor, for his role in Dr. Psycho
• 2007 Adolf Grimme Award, for his role in Dr. Psycho

• Christian Ulmen at IMDb
• Christian Ulmen at the German Dubbing Card Index