Arifin Putra was born Putra Arifin Scheunemann on May 1, 1987, in Mainz, Germany. He is the second of two children of Joyce Sunandar, who runs a catering business, and Axel Scheunemann, an exporter and landscaping specialist. His father is German and his mother is Indonesian. He migrated with his parents and older sister to Indonesia when he was three years old. He is best known for his portrayal of the ambitious son of a mob boss in the acclaimed action thriller The Raid 2: Berandal (2014), which is his first film to be released in the United States and and other major film markets around the world. He is also known for his roles in horror film Macabre (2009) and teen romance flick Lost in Love (2008), which was a sequel to Eiffel I'm in Love (2003).

Arifin started his acting career in television, starring in various Indonesian TV series, commercials, shorts and music videos before transitioning into film with Lost in Love. He is especially motivated by roles that challenge him and people's expectations of him, as apparent in Macabre and The Raid 2.

He resides in Jakarta, Indonesia.