Koko Nograles was born on April 23, 1981, in Davao City to Prospero Nograles, a lawyer who would later serve as Representative of Davao City's 1st district and House Speaker, and Rhodora Burgos Bendigo Nograles.^[5] He is the brother of Civil Service Commission Chairman Karlo Nograles and PBA Partylist Representative Migs Nograles.

Nograles earned an undergraduate degree and a Bachelor of Science in Legal Management degree at the Ateneo de Manila University (1999–2003) and completed a Master in Business Administration degree at the University of Western Australia (2008–2012). Nograles also holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from the Sulu State College.^{[citation needed]}

In 2016, Nograles ran for and won a seat as congressman for the Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Partylist.^[6] That same year, he was designated as legislative caretaker of the 1st District of Sulu,^[7] and later in 2018, as the caretaker of 1st district of Davao City that his brother Karlo vacated upon his appointment as Cabinet Secretary.^[8] In 2019, he was re-elected as a congressman. Nograles also served as the Assistant Majority Leader of the Congress of the Philippines.^[9]

Nograles is an active member of 12 congressional committees (such as the Committees on Rules, Justice, Good Government and Public Accountability, Housing and Urban Development, National Defense and Security, Public Order and Safety, and Ways and Means).^[10] Nograles is the principal author of more than 160 House bills^[11] and resolutions and co-author of 157 more.^[12] Some of these House bills, such as the Free College Education Act, Free Irrigation Service Act, Free WiFi Access Act, Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act, 10-Year Passport Validity Act, National ID Act, National Mental Health Act, and the Electric Cooperative Emergency Fund Act, were signed into law.^[13]

In November 2018, Nograles was designated as the caretaker representative of the 1st District of Davao City.^[14]

On July 10, 2020, Nograles was one of the 70 Congressman who voted to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, in favor of a report from Technical Working Group.