Richard Hammond comes from Shirley; in the mid-1980s he moved with his family (mother Eileen, father Alan, brothers Andrew and Nicholas) to the market town of Ripon in North Yorkshire, where his father owned a solicitor's office on the market square. Initially a pupil at Solihull School, he transferred to Ripon Grammar School, and from 1987 to 1989 he attended college in Harrogate, studying photography and television. After finishing college he worked at several radio stations, including Radio Cleveland, Radio York, Radio Cumbria, Radio Leeds, Newcastle Radio and Radio Lancashire, before auditioning for Top Gear.

Richard Hammond owns several cars, including a Dodge Charger, a Shelby Mustang GT390, a Chevrolet Camaro SS, as well as a Jaguar E-Type and a Morgan AeroMax — in which Hammond had an accident on 9 August 2009 — and a Dodge Challenger, which he bought on one of his trips to the United States. He also owns an Opel Kadett A, which he brought back from Africa after filming the Top Gear special in Botswana.