Kiefer Sutherland is the son of Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, both successful Canadian actors. He is of Scottish descent on both sides and is the grandson of Canadian statesman and founder of Canadian medicare Tommy Douglas.

He and his twin sister, Rachel, were born in London (in Saint Mary's Hospital, Paddington) while his parents were working there. As a result, he holds both Canadian and British passports.

His family moved to Los Angeles, California shortly afterwards, but his parents eventually divorced in 1970. In 1975, Sutherland moved with his mother to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he attended high school at St. Andrew's College, Martingrove Collegiate Institute, Harbord Collegiate Institute and Malvern Collegiate Institute. Kiefer also spent a semester at Regina Mundi College in London, Ontario, Canada. He also attended St. Clair Junior High School in East York, Ontario

As of 2006, Kiefer Sutherland has appeared in over fifty films, most notably "The Lost Boys", "A Few Good Men", "Flatliners", "Young Guns", "The Vanishing", "Dark City", and "A Time To Kill". But since 2001, Sutherland is most widely associated with the role of Jack Bauer, on the critically acclaimed television series 24. After being nominated four times for the "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" Primetime Emmy Award, Sutherland finally won the award in 2006 for his role in 24's fifth season. His father, Donald, was also an Emmy winner; he won an Emmy award for his role in Citizen X in 1996. In the opening skit of the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards, Sutherland also made an appearance as his 24 character Jack Bauer. He was also nominated for Best actor in a Drama Televison Series in the 2007 Golden Globe Awards for "24".

In 2005, Sutherland was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame where both of his parents have also been inducted in Toronto. Also regarding his famous father, Sutherland was the first Inside the Actors Studio guest to be the child of a former guest; his father, Donald, appeared on the show in 1998.

Sutherland was featured on the cover of the April edition of Rolling Stone, in an article entitled "Alone in the Dark with Kiefer Sutherland". The article opened up with Sutherland revealing his interest to be killed off in 24. However, he had also stated,"Don't get me wrong. I love what I do." It also revealed that he devotes 10 out of 12 months a year working on 24.

He has starred in Japanese commercials for Calorie Mate, performing a parody of his Jack Bauer character. Sutherland also provided voiceovers for the current ad campaign of Ford of Canada. They all happen to be of Comedy. In mid 2006, he voiced the Apple Computer advertisement announcing the inclusion of Intel chips in their Macintosh computer line. He also voices the introduction to NHL games on the Versus network in the U.S.