Recchi was born in Kamloops, British Columbia and is 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), weighing 185 lb (84 kg). He played his junior hockey for the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League. His number 8 was retired by the team shortly after he left for the NHL. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, first playing in the NHL 1988, and was the top point scorer in their Stanley Cup winning side in 1991.

The following season he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers as part of a deal that brought Rick Tocchet and Kjell Samuelsson to Pittsburgh. He played for Philadelphia from 1992 to 1995 as part of the "Crazy Eights" line, including a 53 goal, 70 assist, 123 point season in 1992-93, still the Flyers single-season point scoring record. In 1995, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in a deal for Eric Desjardins and John Leclair, but was reaccquired by the Flyers for the 1998-99 season, and was consistently among their top scorers. During the 1999-2000 season, he was a finalist for the Lester B. Pearson trophy as NHLPA MVP and he finished third in scoring, only 5 points behind Jaromir Jagr.

In August 2004, Recchi rejoined the Penguins as a free agent, signing a two-year contract with a two-way option for a third year. The first year was eventually nullified by the NHL lockout; in the second year, with the Penguins languishing at the bottom of the NHL standings, Recchi waived his no-trade clause to be sent to the Stanley Cup-contending Carolina Hurricanes at the deadline for minor-league forward Krystofer Kolanos, left wing Niklas Nordgren, and a 2007 2nd round pick.

In 2000, he was named "Kamloops Male Athlete of the 20th Century", and had a street named "Mark Recchi Way" in his honour.

Is great friends with Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, despite Recchi being dealt back to Philadelphia back in March 1999. Occasionally, whenever his team visits Montreal, he goes to Koivu's house for supper the day before the game.