He also wrote for Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993–1994) and acted in a recurring role as Agent Stevie Grant in The Larry Sanders Show (1993–1998).

[6] He also performed at the Improv Olympic alongside future Saturday Night Live cast members Chris Farley and Tim Meadows.

[citation needed] Odenkirk sharpened his stand-up and improv skills at Elmhurst's now defunct Who's on First comedy club, then part of The Steve and Leo Show.

Working alongside Robert Smigel and Conan O'Brien, he contributed to many sketches they created but felt uncertain of the efficacy of his writing at the show.

[15] He has credited SNL with teaching him many lessons about sketch writing, from senior writers like Jim Downey and Al Franken, as well as his friends Smigel and O'Brien.

[14] In 1991, Odenkirk relocated to Los Angeles and was hired to write for the TV show Get a Life, which starred Late Night with David Letterman alumnus Chris Elliott.

[21] Odenkirk's first movie roles were very minor parts in films such as Wayne's World 2, The Cable Guy, Can't Stop Dancing and Monkeybone.

The series featured a number of comedians in the early stages of their careers, including Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Jack Black, Tom Kenny, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Brian Posehn and Scott Aukerman.

While nominated for multiple Emmy awards in writing and generally well-liked by critics, it never broke out of a "cult" audience into larger mainstream acceptance due to being a premium cable show.

He has written and produced many TV pilots, including The Big Wide World of Carl Laemke and David's Situation, but most didn't make it to air and none were picked up as a series.

Inspired by their unique voice, he connected with them and helped them develop a semi-animated show for Adult Swim called Tom Goes to the Mayor.

He had several small featuring roles on TV shows, including Everybody Loves Raymond, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, NewsRadio, Just Shoot Me!, Joey, Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 1, Episode 3), Arrested Development, Entourage, Weeds, and How I Met Your Mother.

[25] In 2006, Odenkirk directed Let's Go to Prison, which was written by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, and starred Will Arnett, Dax Shepard and Chi McBride.

for Adult Swim, starring Cal Mackenzie-Goldberg a "two-bit movie mogul and head of Cal-Gold Pictures as he leads a collection of crazy, fame-hungry strivers chasing Hollywood dreams".

In fall of 2014, Odenkirk played Dr. Stork, a podiatrist who specializes in cutting off people's toes, in Adult Swim's anthology series Tim & Eric's Bedtime Stories.

It was a movie Odenkirk had wanted to make for 16 years, after Mr. Show writer Eric Hoffman sent him the original script and they began developing it.

[41] In March 2021, Odenkirk starred as Hutch Mansell in the action-thriller film Nobody, which opened at number one at the US box office, with $6.7 million in ticket sales.

[42] Odenkirk received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 18, 2022, the date of the premiere of the final season of Better Call Saul.

[43] In 2022, a new series starring Odenkirk was announced for AMC, entitled Lucky Hank, based on the novel Straight Man by Richard Russo.

[46] It was announced that Odenkirk would make his Broadway debut in 2025 the revival of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross acting opposite Kieran Culkin and Bill Burr.

[51] On December 15, 2019, Odenkirk's alma mater SIU announced it had awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Performing Arts.

[52] On July 27, 2021, Odenkirk was hospitalized in Albuquerque after having what he described as a "small heart attack" on the set of the sixth season of Better Call Saul.

He also said that his condition was more severe than had initially been understood, disclosing that his heart stopped and he required cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation to recover a pulse.

[57][58][59] Better Call Saul showrunner Peter Gould later stated that had Odenkirk not recovered, he and the producers would not have continued on and likely would have dropped the show.

[61] He also learned one of his ancestors, Jean Jacques Fricker, was a French soldier during the Napoleonic Wars who fought at the Battle of Aspern-Essling.