Alex Graves was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His father, william Graves, was a reporter for The Kansas City Star and his mother, Alexandra "Sandy" Graves, worked for United States Senator Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas. His family moved to his father's home town of El Dorado, Kansas when he was young, when his father became a partner in the family drug store Business. He graduated from El Dorado High School in 1983. Graves attended Kansas University and the University of Southern California where he earned a BA Degree in Film Production.
In 2006, he directed the pilot episode of The Nine for ABC, serving as an executive Producer on the pilot. In 2007, he directed and executive produced the pilot, and directed several more episodes, of the drama Journeyman, which aired on NBC. In 2009, Graves was asked by J. J. Abrams to direct and executive produce the pilot of the Fox science-fiction series Fringe.
From 2010 to 2011, Graves worked for Steven Spielberg to direct and executive produce the pilot of the Fox adventure series Terra Nova. The series premiered September 26, 2011. In 2010, he directed and executive produced the ABC pilot The Whole Truth for Jerry Bruckheimer. This pilot also went on to become a series. In 2011, Graves directed a pilot for ABC entitled Poe, a re-imagining of the life of author Edgar Allan Poe, starring Natalie Dormer and Christopher Egan, which did not go to series. Graves then directed and executive produced the ABC pilot 666 Park Avenue.
In 2012, Graves directed Showtime's Shameless for John Wells before being asked by Aaron Sorkin to direct his new HBO series The Newsroom. Graves has directed six episodes of HBO's Game of Thrones.
In 2015, Graves was the executive Producer of the supernatural medical television drama Proof on TNT.
In 2018, Graves directed two episodes of the Netflix original Altered Carbon.
