[3] Born in Kherson, Ukrainian SSR, Polunin started out in gymnastics before switching to ballet at the age of eight and attended the Kyiv State Choreographic Institute.

[13][14] After Polunin graduated from the Kyiv Choreographic Academy (КДХУ), he joined the British Royal Ballet School at the age of 13 in 2003, sponsored by the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation.

[18] In early April 2013, it was reported that Polunin had walked out on the Schaufuss Ballet's performance of Midnight Express just days before its opening night.

[21] Polunin was the subject of the 2016 documentary film Dancer, directed by Steven Cantor, analyzing his childhood, training, and rise to international fame.

Project Polunin aims to bring together dancers, contemporary artists, musicians and choreographers from various creative backgrounds to work together.

[23] In June 2018, a promotional video starring Polunin was featured in a grand ceremony of the reopening of the National Museum of Serbia after 15 years of renovation[24] and in July of the same year, Polunin performed on the Main Stage of the Serbian EXIT festival for the grand opening ceremony of 18th festival edition.

The Ballet revoked the invitation 48 hours later after being notified of Polunin's recent homophobic and sexist Instagram posts that sparked international outrage, including from dancers within the company.

[31][32] As the year closed, the third production of Polunin Ink, "Little Red and the Wolf",[33] choreographed by Ross Freddie Ray, music composed by Kirill Richter, and performed by Sergei Polunin, Laura Fernandez-Gromova, Johan Kobborg and premiered in Zaryadye Concert Hall, Moscow on 29 and 30 December 2019.

[40] Branded as the "Encounter of the East and the West", efforts were put into illustrating the theme with artists from Europe and Asia performing on the stage.

[76][77] In 2022, Polunin revealed photos displaying multiple tattoos of Putin's head across his upper torso, which led to controversy.