Ivanek was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then a part of Yugoslavia. He emigrated with his parents to the United States in 1960 when he was 3 years old; after a two-year stay, the family moved back to Slovenia for five years and then returned to the United States in 1967. Ivanek graduated from Yale University in 1978 and afterward attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In 1982, Ivanek originated the role of Hally in Athol Fugard's play Master Harold...and the Boys. He has also appeared in the U.S. premieres of such notable plays as Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine - garnering the 1981 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play - and Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman. He would later work again with McDonagh, playing a minor role as a Canadian tourist in the film In Bruges.

Ivanek frequently appears on Broadway and has been nominated for three Tony Awards: one for his performance in the original production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, one more as a featured actor in Two Shakespearean Actors, and another for his lead performance as Captain Queeg in a revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial alongside David Schwimmer and Tim Daly.

Ivanek is perhaps best known for his supporting roles in the television series The X Files as Roland; Homicide: Life on the Street as prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers; Damages as Ray Fiske; Oz as Governor James Devlin; 24 as Andre Drazen; Lost as Edmund Burke; Heroes as Emile Danko; and as J.J. in HBO's series Big Love.

In his screen appearances, he often plays professional men such as lawyers or government functionaries, sometimes of an evil nature.

In 2006, he guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit playing the father of a college student (Schuyler Fisk) with whom he has an incestuous relationship.

Ivanek portrayed John Dickinson, representative from Pennsylvania of the Second Continental Congress in the HBO miniseries John Adams. He was again seen on HBO in November 2008 in the series True Blood, in which he played the role of the Magister. He reprised his role as the Magister in 2010, the show's third season.

On September 21, 2008 Ivanek was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the role of Ray Fiske on Damages.

Ivanek appeared in the third and fourth seasons of Big Love, as Nicki Grant's first husband, J.J.

He appeared as a gun-wielding patient in the episode "Last Resort" on House.

Ivanek was in the NBC drama series The Event.

保罗·弗里曼是一位英国演员，曾在戏剧、电视和电影中进行表演。在英国，他最出名的是在爱情电视剧《昨日的梦》（1987）中饰演Martin Daniels。在国际上，他因在《夺宝奇兵》（1981年）中饰演反派考古学家René Belloq、在肥皂剧《鹰冠庄园》（1984-85年）第4季中饰演反派Gustav Riebmann、在《美版恐龙战队电影版》（1995年）中饰演反派Ivan Ooze，在《莫朗》（2001年）中饰演Julius Morlang、在《当我64岁时》（2004年）中饰演Ray，以及饰演《热血警探》（2007年）中的Reverend Shooter和《糖果神探》（2012年）中的Shrewd Eddie而闻名。

1995年，《洛杉矶时报》将弗里曼描述为“英国最受尊敬的演员之一，受过古典表演训练，并曾在皇家莎士比亚剧团和国家剧院工作”。