The son of a Georgian teacher, Shevardnadze became a Komsomol (Young Communist League) member and rose steadily in the hierarchy, becoming first secretary of Georgia's Komsomol Central Committee (1957–61). While in charge of the Georgian police (1965–72), he gained prominence in the regular party apparatus in Tbilisi, the capital, becoming first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia in 1972.

Shevardnadze became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1976 and a candidate member of the Politburo in 1978. In 1985 the new Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev (Gorbachev, Mikhail) promoted Shevardnadze to full membership in the ruling Politburo and named him minister of foreign affairs, succeeding Andrey Gromyko (Gromyko, Andrey Andreyevich).

As foreign minister, Shevardnadze skillfully helped implement Gorbachev's foreign-policy initiatives, including the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1988, the negotiation of new arms treaties with the United States, and tacit acquiescence in the fall of communist governments across eastern Europe in 1989–90. He was one of Gorbachev's closest colleagues and one of the most effective proponents of the reform policies of glasnost and perestroika. Shevardnadze resigned suddenly in December 1990, however, in protest against the growing influence of antireform members of Gorbachev's government. After the failed coup by communist hard-liners in 1991, he returned briefly as Soviet foreign minister (November 19–December 25), only to see the Soviet Union collapse.

The overthrow of Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia in January 1992 left a leadership vacuum that Shevardnadze filled on his return to Georgia in March as chairman of the State Council, an office then equivalent to president. In October 1992 his leadership was confirmed when he was elected chairman of parliament. Shevardnadze fought organized crime and tried to find solutions for separatist violence in the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In August 1995 he survived an assassination attempt in which a car bomb exploded near his motorcade as he traveled to a signing ceremony for a new Georgian constitution. He was elected president of Georgia in November 1995.

As president, Shevardnadze faced numerous problems, including a failing economy and charges of government corruption and cronyism. In 2000 he was reelected president amid allegations of voting irregularities. Unrest with his government grew, especially after parliamentary elections in November 2003 in which charges of widespread irregularities and fraud were raised. Faced with numerous protests, Shevardnadze resigned as president on November 23. The November election results were subsequently voided by the courts.

Shevardnadze's memoir, Pikri carsulsa da momavalze (“Thoughts About the Past and Future”), was published in 2006.