Mullen is a professional skateboarder, and widely considered to be one of the most influential skateboarders in the history of the sport. He is credited with the majority of ollie and flip tricks invented throughout the 1980s, including the flat-ground ollie, the Kickflip, the 360 flip, the Ollie Impossible and the Heelflip, which are regularly performed in modern vertical and street skateboarding.

On January 1, 1977 he bought his first skateboard. His first sponsor was Bill Murray at Inland Surf Shop where Rodney used to skate in their carpark. He rode a Walker Skateboard in his first contest at Kona in Jacksonville in 1977, placing third in Boys Freestyle. The 11-year old attracted the attention of skateboard manufacturer Bruce Walker, which resulted in Mullen earning sponsorship with Walker Skateboards.

For the next 3 years, Mullen took first place in almost every contest he entered. His nearly 30 contest victories, mostly in Florida, culminated with a win at the Oceanside Nationals in May, 1979 in the 11-13 year old sponsored boys division. At this time, Rodney's coaching influence came primarily from Barry Zaritsky, a skateboard and fitness enthusiast, who encouraged a radical, training regimen from him. In 1980, the week of his 14th birthday, Rodney entered his first pro contest and won first place at the Oasis Pro in San Diego against the world champion at the time, Steve Rocco.

In 2002 the World Industries companies, under the holding name Kubic Marketing were bought out by Globe International for $46 million. The Kubic management remained intact and Mullen began working for Globe International under the Dwindle Distribution brand with a pro model on Almost Skateboards [2].

2004 saw the announcement by Dwindle that it has been producing skateboard decks in China under the direction of Rodney Mullen. The justification given was "to better control our current product quality and develop new advanced products. All this, while simultaneously lowering the price on existing skate-deck products".

In 2004 Mullen also penned an autobiography, with the help of Sean Mortimer, called The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself.