Nikolay Vladimirovich Fomenko was born in Leningrad on April, 30, 1962. His mother, Galina Fomenko, was a ballerina and decided to sent her son to the ballet school. His father, Vladimir Fomenko was a physicist meteorologist, a member of Russian Academy of Sciences, he entered top 500 best scientists of the world and was marked in the Cambridge Encyclopedia "Outstanding People of the 20 century".

After leaving school Nikolay Fomenko entered the Leningrad Institute of Theater, Music and Cinema. Being a teenager, he had some speech defects and could possibly fail the exam to enter the Institute, but his wit and a sense of humour helped him to win the sympathy of examiners.

In the Soviet armed forces Fomenko started to sing and became the lead singer Song and Dance Ensemble of the Leningrad Military District. In the mid-1980s he started his career as vocalist and guitarist in the band Secret, making a huge number of popular hits such as: "The last hour of December", "She does not understand", "Downstream", "My love is on the fifth floor", "Leningrad time", "Do not tell me goodbye", and many others.

In 1983 Fomenko started to play in Alexandrinsky Theatre, one of the most prestigious theaters. Fomenko was told to be a very good actor who knows everything about laughter, he is equally talented in acting comic clowns and tragic personalities. Nikolay Fomenko also played on the stage of the Leningrad Academic Drama Theatre, in LGITMIK Educational Theatre, in "Na Liteinom" theatre and in Satirikon. In the theatre Fomenko starred in "The Trumpeter on the Square ", "What happened at the zoo", "Heart of a Dog" and "The Threepenny Opera" performances.

At the same time with the foundation of Secret band, Fomenko starts his TV career. At first, he appeared in the program Whirling Disks and that show played an enormous role in the promotion of the Secret. Then Nikolay started to direct Morning mail show. Fomenko is an author and presenter of more than 30 television programs.

In 1995 year Nikolay Fomenko started to work on Russkoe radio. With the release of Fomenko's programs, the number of radio listeneres increased dramatically.

Fomenko didn't left from TV, starting a new project every year or participating in some projects: "Pop-antenna", "Top Secret", "two-on", "Muz.oboz" (cruise ship), "As simple", etc. In 1997 year he reached an incredible level of popularity.

Fomenko performed in the popular Russian music collection series Staryye Pesni o Glavnom (Old songs about the important) and many other popular shows. He also hosted a season of the game-show The Weakest Link on Russia's Channel 5.

In 2009, he began hosting Top Gear Russia, the REN-TV spin-off of the BBC series Top Gear.

Fomenko is not only a multi-talented actor, he is good in car-racing. In 1994 Nikolai was invited by Vladislav Listyev to participate in a car racing show as a celebrity guest and then he started to train as professional racer and took his first victory in 1996.

Fomenko is also involved in the development and launching of the Marussia sport cars, the first sports cars made in Russia. In 2010 Marussia became a sponsor of Virgin Racing Formula One team and then acquired a controlling stake in the team. Fomenko became an Engineering Director of the Marrussia Virgin Racing Formula One team on February, 2, 2011.