Ursula Andress was born in Ostermundigen, Berne, Switzerland, to a Swiss mother and a German father. Her father, Rolf Andress, was a German diplomat who disappeared during World War II. Andress has four sisters and one brother. She is fluent in English, French, Italian, German and Swiss-German.

Andress started her career as an art model in Rome, which led to her first roles in the active Italian movie industry. She became famous as Honey Ryder, a shell diver and James Bond's object of desire in Dr. No (1962), the first Bond movie. Her introduction in Dr. No became one of the most iconic moments of the franchise. She rises out of the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini, singing a Calypso song and tossing back her blonde hair. (The combination of sea, shells, and a stunning blonde has led some critics to trace the inspiration for this scene to Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.)

Andress has been considered the first and best Bond Girl by fans. In 1963, she won a Golden Globe for Best Promising Newcomer (Female).

Andress co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1963 film, Fun in Acapulco and she also appeared in the parody Bond movie Casino Royale (1967) as Vesper Lynd, an occasional spy who persuades Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) to carry out a mission. Her heavy accent was dubbed over by Monica Van Der Syl in Dr. No, but she used her own voice in Casino Royale.

In 1965, she posed nude for a pictorial in Playboy.

She was married in 1957 to actor/director John Derek. The marriage ended in divorce in 1966. Andress dated many of Hollywood's leading men including co-stars Sean Connery, Marlon Brando and James Dean. In 1980, she had a son, Dimitri, with actor Harry Hamlin, her costar in the film Clash of the Titans.

In 1995, Ursula Andress was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history".

In a 2003 UK Survey by Channel 4, her entrance in Dr. No was voted #1 in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments".