Mark William Austin was born on 1 November 1958 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Details about his parents are not publicly available, though he was raised in Portsmouth and later moved to the Bournemouth area for his schooling.

His journey in journalism began in 1976 at the Bournemouth Daily Echo, where he cut his teeth in local newspaper journalism. He joined ITN in 1986 and went on to present ITV News at Ten for well over a decade.

He is widely known as the former co-anchor of the ITV Evening News alongside Mary Nightingale, and also the former co-anchor of ITV News at Ten alongside Julie Etchingham. During his decades at ITV he reported from major global events including the Rwanda genocide, the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, and the Arab Spring.

After three decades with ITV, Austin joined Sky News in 2017, where he became the lead presenter of The News Hour with Mark Austin. He also presents Sky News at 6 on weekdays, and his transition to Sky News demonstrated his adaptability and enduring appeal in an ever-changing media landscape.

Austin lives in Haslemere, Surrey, with his wife Catherine and their three children, Jack, Madeleine, and Beatrice.