After graduating from high school, Rainer Bock ran a café in his hometown, which also had a cabaret programme. After studying acting at a private acting school in Kiel, he made his debut as a theater actor on the stages of the state capital of Kiel in 1982. He came to Heidelberg and the National Theater Mannheim via the Schleswig-Holstein State Theater. From 1995 to 2001 he had an engagement at the Staatstheater Stuttgart. Until 2011 he was engaged at the Bavarian State Theater in Munich. Bock often appears in supporting roles, including his initially rare appearances in film and television. The part of the doctor in Michael Haneke's award-winning drama The White Ribbon - A German Children's Story (2009) earned him a nomination for the German Film Prize. In 2011 he was represented at the Berlinale with four films. Bock is also active as an audio book speaker.