Ursula Werner grew up in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg. She first trained as a carpenter in the Wilma Rudolf collective in Adlershof. After studying at the Berlin State Drama School, today's Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, her first engagements took her to the Halle State Theatre and to the Berlin cabaret Die Distel. From 1974 to 2009 Werner was a permanent member of the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin. She can still be seen on the Gorki stage as a guest actress. At the DEFA film studio she is especially remembered for her role as Dr. Unglaube in the film "The Crazy Smell of Fresh Hay" (1977).

From 2001 to 2007 she appeared as Mrs. Mell in a recurring supporting role in the series "Einstein Castle." After several small roles in film and television, Ursula Werner returned to the spotlight in 2008 with the lead role in Andreas Dresen's film "Ninth Heaven." In "Ninth Heaven" she embodied a woman who, at around seventy, leaves her older husband for an even older man. The film's aim is to show that love and sex do not end with age. For this outstanding achievement she received the 2009 German Film Award for Best Female Lead.