Tanvir Ahmed was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 3 October 1972. He built his career on the domestic circuit long before reaching the international stage, taking charge of his first List A match in Bangladesh during the 2005 to 2006 season and his first-class debut in the 2007 to 2008 season. He has also been a regular on-field umpire in the Bangladesh Premier League since 2012.
November 2018 brought a step up when he joined the ICC International Panel of Umpires. His first men's international match followed on 17 December 2018, standing in the opening T20I between Bangladesh and West Indies. He later moved into men's One Day Internationals, umpiring his first ODI match between Bangladesh and West Indies in January 2021.
Over his career, Ahmed has officiated across multiple formats and levels of the game. His stats include 10 ODIs between 2021 and 2026, 32 T20Is between 2018 and 2025, 5 WODIs between 2012 and 2024, and 4 WT20Is between 2012 and 2023.
High-pressure matches have occasionally brought Ahmed into the spotlight for off-field friction and disputed rulings. During a group match in the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League, Shakib Al Hasan reacted angrily to his decisions. A few years later, in the third T20I between Bangladesh and West Indies on 22 December 2018, Ahmed called a controversial no-ball that triggered a strong protest from West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite and the team management, forcing a ten-minute pause while the match referee intervened.