Prince Sultan was born in Riyadh in 1930, and received his early education in religion, modern culture and diplomacy along with his brothers at the royal court. He was appointed Governor of Riyadh in 1947. Much of his time, however, was taken up in assisting his father in the setting up of a national administrative system based on justice and the implementation of Shari'ah [Islamic Law].

When the Council of Ministers was formed in 1953, Prince Sultan became the Kingdom's first Minister of Agriculture. In that capacity he helped set up a project for resettling nomadic tribes.

Two years later, Prince Sultan became Minister of Transportation, and contributed greatly to the development of the Kingdom's roads and telecommunications network. Prince Sultan supervised the construction of the only railway system on the Arabian Peninsula, connecting Dammam with Riyadh; he is currently Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Railways Organization.

Prince Sultan was appointed Minister of Defense and Aviation in 1963. Since that time he has helped establish the modern Saudi Arabian armed forces, including land, air, naval and air defense forces. He has presided over the construction of military cities throughout the Kingdom. In addition, Prince Sultan is Chairman of the Board of the Kingdom's national airline, renamed 'Saudi Arabian Airlines' in 1996.

On the succession of King Fahd in 1982, Prince Sultan was named Second Deputy Prime Minister.

Prince Sultan has also served as Chairman of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), an organization which he founded in 1986 to promote the protection of the nation's indigenous wildlife.

Another recent organization is the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Charity Foundation , which was established in 1995 to provide social services and health care for the elderly and comprehensive rehabilitation programs for the disabled.

Prince Sultan has chaired, or currently chairs, various committees, including the Supreme Committee for Education Policy, the Manpower Council, the Ministerial Committee on Environment, the Board of the General Enterprise of Military Industries, and the Higher Committee of the Offset Program.

Prince Sultan has conducted official visits to Arab and Muslim countries, and to nations around the world, meeting with heads-of-state and officials. He led the Saudi delegation to the 40th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 and also to the 50th anniversary of the organization in 1995.

During official visits to the United States in October 1995, February 1997, and November 1999, Prince Sultan met with President Bill Clinton and a number of U.S. officials.