Mark Goodier was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). His family moved to the UK when he was a child, eventually settling in Scotland. He was educated at George Heriot’s School, in Edinburgh. He became a mobile DJ in Edinburgh and then joined a local Free Radio Station (Telstar) where his radio career began. Afterwards went on to join a local station Radio Forth at the age of 19.

After progressing through several jobs at stations in Scotland including Radio Clyde in Glasgow and at Metro Radio in the North East of England, he joined BBC Radio 1 in 1987, beginning a 15-year stint with the station, beginning with a two-hour Saturday night show, the Mark Goodier Show.