Bolko I was the second son of Bolesław II the Bald, Duke of Legnica by his first wife Hedwig, daughter of Henry I, Count of Anhalt.

One of the first tasks of Bolko I as sole ruler was to protect his modest inheritance from the growing power of Henry IV Probus, Duke of Wrocław.

Bolko I's relation to the House of Ascania engaged him in an armed conflict with the German King Rudolf I of Habsburg and Henry IV Probus.

In the second half of the 1280s, Bolko I tried to avoid the dangers from the rising power of Henry IV Probus and began to approach the King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia.

However, despite the fact that Bolko I strongly resisted the complete dominance of Prague, he received minor benefits from the Kingdom of Bohemia, such as the possession of the strategical castle in Chełmsko Śląskie on the Bohemian frontier.

Bolko I, in order to secure his domains, began the intensive building of fortifications in his Duchy (particularly in the Bohemian frontier towns of Świdnica, Wleń, Strzegom and Kamienna Góra).

Bolko I also demonstrated that he was a wise politician; immediately after stopping the Bohemian troops, he put his domains under the protection of Pope Boniface VIII, which eventually led King Wenceslaus II to seek a settlement.

An 8000 line poem in Middle High German on the exploits of Ludwig III, Count of Thuringia, was composed by an unnamed priest at Bolko's instigation.

[2] To resolve the tense situation in Upper Silesia, by March 1297 an annual congress of Silesian Dukes in Zwanowicach was convened, where Bolko I made the final settlement with Henry III.

Bolko I spent the last years of his life strengthening his position as the most powerful of the Silesian princes, which he achieved after his recognition as a Papal vassal on 21 March 1299.