Grisebach was born in Hanover. His uncle was a professor of botany at Göttingen and Grisebach originally studied there, later moving to Berlin.

His first taxonomic work was on the family Gentianaceae and in 1838 he published a substantial work Genera et Species Gentianearum. The next year, inspired by the scientific expeditions of Alexander Humboldt, he set out on a trip to the Balkan peninsula, where he studied the vegetation. This was the start of his work on phytogeography, which he continued for several years and which resulted in his major work Vegetation de Erde published in 1872. Grisebach also worked on the botany of the Caribbean and South America.