The third of four children, Richard had an older sister, Rebecca Ann, who was killed, along with her husband, Marshall Nash, in a plane crash in 1977; and an older brother, Ronald David, who committed suicide in 1982, six months after coming out as homosexual, and five months after entering a drug rehabilitation facility.

[1] As a young boy, Roberts watched his father travel the United States and the world conducting healing meetings, where he would preach and pray for the sick.

In the book Expect A Miracle: My Life and Ministry, Oral Roberts wrote about the bond he and his son Richard built through playing golf.

[1] Though drawn to ministry, the attention his father drew made Roberts uncomfortable, leading to teasing at school.

Roberts wrote, "I came home from school many a day with my shirt torn and my nose bloodied from being in fights with the other kids who made fun of me, my dad and the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

[5] Roberts learned to play the guitar and performed around Oklahoma, dreaming of a career as a nightclub singer in Las Vegas.

Graduating from Memorial High School in May 1966[6] Roberts attended University of Kansas, intending to study music.

[7] During the summer of his freshman year, he worked at the famous Starlight Theater in Kansas City,[8] with a number of performers including Shirley Jones.

When he returned home, he heard a voice telling him that he was in the wrong place and that he belonged at Oral Roberts University instead.

In his book, He’s The God of a Second Chance, Roberts wrote that the marriage was "a terrible mistake that I didn't know how to get out of," but that he did not believe in divorce.

[15][16] In 1983, she released a book called Ashes to Gold, discussing her thoughts on Roberts' ministry and university.

[17] Because of his high-profile divorce, Roberts believed it was important to go before the executive staff of the ministry and the university to discuss his desire to remarry and seek their approval.

[16] In the book Expect a Miracle, Oral Roberts remembered his son coming to his office devastated, explaining what had just happened, asking what was to become of him and his work in the ministry.

Oral noted that numerous individuals, including close friends and ministers, advised him to remove Richard from the Ministry, send him overseas for a number of years, and even disown him.

According to the ministry website, oralroberts.com, Roberts has ministered in over 40 countries on six different continents including: Russia, India, Brazil, Australia, Niger, and Indonesia.

[25] In 1984, Roberts begins a live daily one-hour program called Richard Roberts Live that combined ministry, music, and special guests such as Richard Kiel, known for his role as Jaws in the James Bond movies, and Donna Douglas, best known as Elly May Clampett in the television show The Beverly Hillbillies.

Roberts pushed the team to increase enrollment, tighten budgets and find additional revenue streams.

[32][33] Over the next four years, enrollment increased by 1,200 students and the university's debt shrank by 50 percent[34] Roberts used his ministry connections to help with recruitment, specifically in the African American community.

[47] On October 17, 2007 Roberts asked for and was granted an indefinite leave of absence from the school by the university's board of regents, citing the "toll" the lawsuit and attendant allegations have taken on him and his family.

Upon review, it was discovered that the shredded documents had nothing to do with any allegations and were a part of normal policy, required by law for the privacy and protection of students and ministry donors.

[56]On January 24, 2012, the birthday of his deceased father,[57] Roberts was stopped in Tulsa, Oklahoma on U.S. Route 169 going 93mph in a 65-mph zone in his Mercedes S430.

[60] At a May 2012 hearing, Roberts pled guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, receiving 18 months of probation and paying $1,532.

[61] He was also ordered to complete 56 hours of community service, undergo a drug and alcohol assessment, and attend DUI classes.