Payne studied at the University of York and the Central School of Speech and Drama before graduating from the Royal Court Young Writer's Program.

Nick was/is a member of the Northern Writing Squad, a project funded by the Arts Council in the North of England that supports emerging young writers.

[1] His first play, If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, opened at the Bush Theatre in October 2009 and received a positive response from critics at the Evening Standard and the Financial Times.

[2] Payne's second play, Wanderlust, opened in September 2010, directed by Simon Godwin, at the Royal Court Theatre upstairs and also garnered excellent reviews.

Directed by Michael Longhurst and starring Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins, it explores love, friendship and the notion of free will against the backdrop of quantum physics.

It was extremely well received, with Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph commenting that "Nick Payne's drama lasts just over an hour but packs in more than most shows manage in three times that length.

In August 2013 his play The Same Deep Water As Me opened at the Donmar Warehouse, with a cast including Nigel Lindsay, Daniel Mays and Marc Wootton.

[6] The play starred Charlie Cox, Heather Lind, Morgan Spector, and Geneva Carr and was directed by Doug Hughes.

[10][11] In 2023, A24 acquired the rights to his romantic drama film We Live in Time starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield.