Richard is the son of Walter Hadlee, and the brother of Dayle and Barry Hadlee. His former wife Karen also played international cricket for New Zealand. He was born on 3 July 1951 at St Albans, Christchurch.

In June 2018, Hadlee was diagnosed with bowel cancer and underwent tumor removal surgery.

A bowling all-rounder, in an 86-Test career he took 431 wickets (at the time the world record), and was the first bowler to pass 400 wickets, with an average of 22.29, and made 3124 Test runs at 27.16, including two centuries and 15 fifties.

Hadlee is rated by many experts as the greatest exponent of bowling with the new ball. He was the master of (conventional) swing and was the original Sultan of Swing. Hadlee was seen as one of the finest fast bowlers of his time, despite the contemporaneous presence of Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Malcolm Marshall among others.

As one of the four top all rounders of his time, the others being Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham, Hadlee had the best bowling average of the four, but the lowest batting average.

Born in Christchurch, Hadlee made his first class debut for Canterbury in 1971/72 and his test match debut in 1973 – on both occasions, his first delivery was dispatched to the boundary. Hadlee was an inconsistent performer at test level for several years; however a breakthrough performance against India in 1976 in which he took 11 wickets in a game resulting in a win by New Zealand cemented his place in the side. In 1978, Hadlee helped New Zealand to a historic first win over England by taking 6 for 26 in England's second innings, bowling the visitors out for 64 chasing a target of 137.

In 1979/80, New Zealand faced the West Indies in a home test series at a time when the West Indies were a formidable world cricket power. In the first test in Dunedin New Zealand achieved a shock 1-wicket win, helped by Hadlee's 11 wickets in the game. In the second test, Hadlee scored his maiden test century, helping New Zealand draw the test and win the series 1–0. The result was the start of a 12-year unbeaten home record for New Zealand in test match series. Hadlee was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours.

A tour to England in 1983 saw New Zealand register their first ever test win on English soil, at Headingley. The match was remarkable for Hadlee's match return of 0 for 89, a very unusual occurrence in a New Zealand victory during his career. England eventually won the 4 test series 3–1; however, Hadlee topped both batting and bowling averages for New Zealand in the series, and took his 200th test wicket in the final test at Nottingham. In the return test series in New Zealand in 1984, New Zealand completed a remarkable three-day innings victory (including one day lost to rain) over England at Christchurch, in which England were dismissed for less than 100 in both of their innings. The match was also notable for Hadlee's superb all-round performance – he took 8 wickets in the m