The members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, an independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Selway, along with guitarist Ed O’Brien, was in the year above singer Thom Yorke and bassist Colin Greenwood, and three years above multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood, brother of Colin. In 1985, they formed On a Friday, the name referring to the band’s usual rehearsal day in the school’s music room.

In 1991, On a Friday signed a six-album recording contract with EMI and changed their name to Radiohead. They found early success with their 1992 single “Creep”. Their third album, OK Computer (1997), propelled them to international fame and is often acclaimed as one of the best albums of all time. By 2011, Radiohead had sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2019.

Selway has also toured and recorded with Neil Finn as part of the 7 Worlds Collide project. He drummed on their eponymous 2001 live album and provides drums, guitar and occasional lead vocals on their 2009 studio album, The Sun Came Out, where he also penned two tracks.

Selway has been associated with emotional support group Samaritans as a listening volunteer since 1991. He performed with the band Dive Dive in March 2005 and appeared in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as a member of the band “The Weird Sisters” along with Radiohead bandmate Jonny Greenwood and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker.

His mother Thea died during a Radiohead tour in May 2006. The band cancelled one of their dates in Amsterdam so that Selway could carry out his family duties. The band later returned to Amsterdam in August to play the missed show. The discbox, LP, and CD release of In Rainbows mentions a dedication to Thea Selway.

In 2009 Selway was featured as a guitarist on Martin Simpson’s studio album True Stories.

Selway released his debut solo album, Familial, on 30 August 2010. The album features Selway on guitar and vocals, along with Wilco members Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone as well as fellow 7 Worlds Collide artists Lisa Germano and Sebastian Steinberg. He announced a solo tour on 4 February 2011. Selway’s second solo album, Weatherhouse, was released on 6 October 2014. In 2017, Selway composed the score for the feature film Let Me Go, directed by Polly Steele. He contributed drums to the song “Impossible Knots” from Thom Yorke’s third solo album, Anima.

Since 2011, Selway has performed at Radiohead shows with a second drummer, Clive Deamer. Selway said: “One played in the traditional way, the other almost mimicked a drum machine. It was push-and-pull, like kids at play, really interesting.”