Trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, later incorporating other styles and genres such as pop, rock, folk, and world music.

[1] Einaudi has composed the scores for a number of films and television productions, including This Is England, The Intouchables, I'm Still Here, the TV miniseries Doctor Zhivago, and Acquario (1996), for which he won the Grolla d'oro.

[7] Her father, Waldo Aldrovandi, was a pianist, opera conductor, and composer who emigrated to Australia after World War II.

[9] That same year he took an orchestration class taught by Luciano Berio and was awarded a scholarship to the Tanglewood Music Festival.

[10] After studying at the conservatory in Milan and subsequently with Berio, Einaudi spent several years composing in traditional forms, including several chamber and orchestral pieces.

[10] Some of his collaborations in theatre, video, and dance included compositions for the Sul filo d'Orfeo in 1984,[12] Time Out in 1988, a dance-theatre piece created with writer Andrea De Carlo,[11] The Wild Man in 1990, and the Emperor in 1991.

He started with two films by Michele Sordillo, Da qualche parte in città in 1994 and Acquario in 1996, for which he won the Grolla d'oro for best soundtrack.

[12] In 2000, he collaborated with Antonello Grimaldi on Un delitto impossibile, and he also composed the soundtrack for Fuori del mondo, for which he won the Echo Klassik award in Germany in 2002.

[12][better source needed] After the release of his debut album, some excerpts were included in the film Aprile by Nanni Moretti.

To The Intouchables (2011), the biggest box office movie in French history, he contributed the tracks "Fly", "Writing Poems", "L'origine nascosta", "Cache-cache", "Una Mattina", and "Primavera."

The album is based on the novel The Waves by British writer Virginia Woolf, and enjoyed mainstream success, particularly in Italy and the UK.

Shortly after its release, Einaudi went on tour to various places in the UK, playing both the music on Divenire and orchestral arrangements of his other works.

[20] On 17 September 2013, Einaudi performed various songs from In a Time Lapse, together with a new ensemble, at the annual iTunes Festival held at the Roundhouse in London.

[21] In March 2016, the world premiere of a new piano concerto, "Domino", took place at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.