Khan was born in the district Dera Ismail Khan Tehsil Tank (till 1992) N.W.F.P. now KPK province of Pakistan. Her father Rehmat Khan was a Pakistani, an ethnic Pashtun and her mother Anna Rehmat was of English descent but settled in Pakistan. Also, she is the grandniece of Nawab of Tank. Her father worked for the Pakistan Air Force and the family had to relocate almost every two years depending upon his job assignment. So she said in an interview, as a result of this situation, that she did not have long-term childhood friends. Marina Khan made her debut in a PTV drama in honor of Rashid Minhas Shaheed, Pakistan's national hero from the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. Later, she received her real breakthrough from the drama serial Tanhaiyaan in 1985. "Marina Khan rose to fame with Tanhaiyaan, which became a tremendous hit amongst Pakistani audiences. "However, later Marina took up directing and production as parts of her profession and also had her own cooking show.