Orbach graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in New York City in 1986, studied acting briefly at SUNY Purchase, and went on to get a BFA in film and television production from New York University.
Orbach played Detective Ken Briscoe, nephew of Lennie Briscoe (his father's character) in the first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2000). On film, he appeared in John Gallagher's 2000 film Blue Moon, with Ben Gazzara and Rita Moreno, and in Elizabeth Lucas' 2009 film Clear Blue Tuesday. On stage in New York he appeared in Peg o' My Heart at the Irish Repertory Theater and in two plays at La Mama ETC's Club Theater, Modern Living, and Lost In Staten Island. He also appeared in a revival of the theatrical documentary Charlie Victor Romeo at 3LD. As a founding member of the performance group Memoir Radio (with Patrick Daniels and Laurence Mason) Chris wrote and performed a one-man theater piece called Fast—an autobiographical work dovetailing his childhood in New York's Chelsea neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s with his current hobby of marathon running, which he started at age 42.
A self-taught musician, he sings and plays guitar, bass and keyboards. He has recorded two albums of original songs, Safely Through the Night (2004) and Secession (2009). The latter was co-produced by Grammy Award-winning Engineer Troy Halderson.
He married Nicole J. Vallance on August 20, 2011. Their son Aaron Orbach was born on October 19, 2014. Orbach has an older brother named Anthony Nicholas "Tony" Orbach, a niece named Sarah Kate Orbach and a nephew named Peter Orbach.
