Fatih Terim was born on September 4, 1953 in Adana. Terim, who is the son of a poor family, worked in many different jobs with his father. He started his football career as a goalkeeper in Adana Demirspor. In 1974, he was transferred to Galatasaray for 1 million 650 thousand liras. He played for the national team for the first time in the Turkey - Switzerland match on April 20, 1975. Continuing his career as a coach, Fatih Terim became the head of Ankaragücü in 1987. Terim, who brought great success to the team, coached Göztepe between 1980-1990. In 1990, he assisted German coach Sepp Piontek, who coached the A national team. In 1993, he became the head of the national team and in 1996 he took the team to the European championship. Fatih Terim, who did not show much success in this period, came to Galatasaray again. He made the team 4 times champion in 1996-2000.

In 2000, it brought the UEFA Cup to Turkey for the first time. In the 200-2001 season, he continued his career by managing the Italian team Fiorentina. He then managed the Milan team until 2003. In addition, he came to Galatasaray again in the same year. However, he was banned from his post in 2004 as a result of repeated failures. In 2005, he became the coach of the national team again. He resigned from his position on 19 October 2009. On May 17, 2011, he became the head of Galatasaray for the third time. In 2012, he became the coach who won the most championships in league history with 5 championships.

While playing football, he played in Adana Demir and Galatasaray clubs, and played for the National Team 68 times in total. He scored 12 goals 83 times for Adana Demirspor and 317 times scored 16 goals for Galatasaray.

Fatih Terim, who has served as the Technical Director of Ankaragücü, Göztepe, Galatasaray, Fiorentina, Milan and Turkey A National Team from past to present, was nicknamed the Emperor in Turkey and Grande in Italy.

On September 24, 2013, Galatasaray Sports Club President Ünal Aysal was dismissed from his duty. He became the coach of the National Football Team for the 2013-2014 season.

Finally, as of 2017, he became the head of Galatasaray again.

On the other hand, Fatih Terim married Fulya Terim in 1982 and had two daughters, Merve and Buse.