Lin was born in 1960 to a Hakka family in Hsinchu, then a quiet college town 70 km (43 mi) south of Taipei, a research center where his father worked as a nuclear physicist.
His commanding technique and precocious abilities then led him to Juilliard School, where he studied with the eminent Dorothy DeLay, teacher to several renowned soloists such as Itzhak Perlman, Gil Shaham, Midori Goto, et al.
He has over twenty recordings to his credit, ranging from the concertos of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Sibelius, and Prokofiev, to Christopher Rouse and Tan Dun, as well as the chamber music of Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Ravel.
His recording partners include Yefim Bronfman, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Isaac Stern and Helen Huang.
In 2023, he stepped down as the artistic director of the Taipei Music Academy and Festival following accusations by two women of sexual harassment.