Rasim Balayev was born in Agsu. He studied at the Acting Faculty of the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts (1969). Since 1972, he has worked at the “Azerbaijanfilm” film studio. For a long time, he worked as the First Secretary of the Board of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan (1993-2013). Since 2022, he has been the Chairman of the Board of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan.

He played the role of a patriot in the film "Freedom is a Sweet Word" (1972, directed by Vytautas Zhalakiavičius / Russia, Lithuania) by foreign film producers, the role of Elberd in the film "Ali the Lightning Horseman" (1975, directed by Hasan Hajigasimov / Russia), the role of Ali Rezo in the film "Ambush" (1977, directed by Marat Aripov / Tajikistan), the role of the Emir of Bukhara in the series "Fiery Roads" (1977-1984, directed by Shukhrat Abbasov / Uzbekistan), the role of the Russian language teacher Vek-Khan in the film "Mountain Novel" (1979, directed by Izmail Burnachev, Iles Tatayev / Russia), the role of Abdurazam bey in the film "If the Earth Were Round" (1980 / Germany), the role of Abdurazam bey in the film "Awakening" (1983, directed by Latif Feyziyev / Uzbekistan), and the role of "Alone" (1984, directed by Giyas Shermuhammedov / Uzbekistan), in the film “The Victory of a Lonely Merchant” (1984, directed by Sebastian Alarcon / Russia), in the film “The Little Man in the Great War” (1989, directed by Shuhrat Abbasov / Uzbekistan), in the film “Black Winter” (1992 / Iran), in the film “Dungeon of the Giants” (1993, directed by Hasan Mammadzadeh / Iran), in the film “Bloody Bosnia” (1993 / Turkey), in the film “Code of Silence 2” (1993, directed by Zinoviy Roizman / Russia, Uzbekistan) as Colonel Agayev, in the film “Destroyed Bridges” (1996, directed by Rafiq Puya / USA) as a taxi driver and voiceover of the text, in the film “His Eminences of Ibrahim Gulshani” (1997 / Turkey), in the film “Drongo” (2002, directed by Zinoviy Roizman / Russia) in the role of prosecutor Kazimov, and in the role of uncle Jamal in the series “Magomayev” (2019, directed by Dmitry Tyurin, Roman Prygunov / Russia).

He was awarded the State Prize (1986), the Order of “Glory” (1998), the Order of “Honor” (2018), the Jafar Jabbarli Prize (2019), and the Order of “Independence” (2023). He is an Honored Artist (1976), People's Artist (1982).