Rafig Azimov was born in Baku. Because of his good voice, he was enrolled in the school choir while in the 4th grade. He was also a member of the tar and drama club. He also attended Ali Gurbanov's children's drama club at the Palace of Culture named after 26 Baku commissars. He worked for 6 years in the adult drama club led by Lutfi Mammadbeyov. He studied at the Faculty of Cinema and Drama Acting of the Azerbaijan State Theater Institute. During his studies, he submitted 5 works as coursework. In 1962, he was accepted into the troupe of the Academic National Drama Theater.
He starred in the films of foreign filmmakers "My Kind Father" (1970, director Igor Usov, in the role of Ali Ismayilov / Russia), "Absurdistan" (2008, director Veit Helmer, in the role of a carpenter / Germany).
Honored Artist (1982), People's Artist (2000). He was awarded the Jafar Jabbarli Prize (2010), the "Artist" medal, and the "Shohrat" order (2018).