He was born on January 6, 1977, in Trzebiatów. He graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw in 2000 and obtained an LLM in Comparative Constitutional Law from the Central European University in Budapest in 2001. In 2006, he earned a Ph.D. in legal sciences, followed by habilitation in 2019.

Bodnar taught at the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw from 2006 to 2020 and served as a professor at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Computer Science from 2019 to 2020. Since 2021, he has been the dean of the Faculty of Law at the SWPS University. Additionally, he is a visiting professor at the University of Cologne and a senior fellow at the Democracy Institute of Central European University in Budapest.

His professional background includes working at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges from 1999 to 2004. Bodnar has been involved in various organizations, such as the European Institute for Gender Equality, the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and theEU Agency for Fundamental Rights. From 2015 to 2021, he served as the Commissioner for Human Rights in Poland.

Adam Bodnar is also a member of program and advisory boards of national and international organizations, including the Congress of Civic Democratic Movements Foundation and the World Organization Against Torture. He founded the Congress of Civil Rights Foundation and has authored numerous scholarly publications in the field of law. As a recognition for his contributions to upholding the rule of law and human rights, he has received national and international awards, including the Rafto Prize and the Order of the Griffin of West Pomerania. In addition, he is a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.

He was elected as a senator for the 9th term in 2023, representing district 44 (Warsaw's Białołęka, Bielany, Śródmieście, Żoliborz districts, as well as the votes of Polish citizens abroad).