Riyaz debuted in Malayalam through the 1994 film Sukham Sukhakaram, directed by Balachandra Menon.

Khan was born to Rasheed, a Malayalam film producer and Rasheeda Baanu at Fort Kochi, Kerala.

His notable films include Badri (2001), Baba (2002), Ramana (2002), Balettan (2003), Winner (2003), Runway (2004), Vesham (2004) Power of Women (2005) Ghajini (2005), Thirupathi (2006), Stalin (2006) and Pokkiri Raja (2010).

He has also made significant contributions to television, appearing in popular Tamil serials like Nandini (2017-2018) and Kannana Kanne (2020-2023) which was aired on Sun TV.

[4] In 2024, actress Revathy Sampath has claimed that actor Riyaz Khan made inappropriate sexual remarks during a phone call.