Richard Neitzel Holzapfel completed his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University (Middle Eastern Studies) and graduate studies at Hebrew Union College and University of California, Irvine (Ancient History).
He taught at BYU from 1993 until 2018. During his university teaching career, he taught at the BYU Center for Near Eastern Studies (1997–1998) and directed the BYU Rome Study Abroad program (2009).
Richard is the author/editor of fifty-one books, including Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament (co-written with Dana Pike and David Seely) and Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament (co-written with Eric Huntsman and Thomas Wayment). His most recent publication is co-written with his wife, Jeni Broberg Holzapfel, Recharging Our Scripture Study (2021). He is also the author of more than two hundred articles on scripture, history, and doctrine
Richard and Jeni are the parents of five children, Nate, Zac, Zanna, Marin, and Bailey and the grandparents of eight grandchildren, Enzo, Catalina, Ari, Riley, Kate, Sweden, and Juniper.
They live in downtown Salt Lake City and in Springville, Utah. Richard currently serves as an Area Seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.