He is married to the director Sanda Weigl, his daughter Marie Pohl (* 1979) is a writer, his younger daughter Lucie Pohl (* 1983) became known as an actress. In 2020 Pohl's self-written and read audio book Sein oder nicht sein, which is about the rehearsals for Peter Zadek's famous Hamlet production from 1999, was published. In addition to plays, he wrote scripts, radio plays, essays and the novel The Children of the Prussian Desert. He has been a member of the Burgtheater since 2000. In 1999 Pohl was seen at the Vienna Burgtheater as Horatio in Hamlet, in 2002 as Max in Anatol, in 2003 in the world premiere of Gert Jonke's Chorphantasie, in 2004 as Dervish in Nathan der Weise and in 2006 as Er in Jon Fosses Schlaf. He staged several world premieres of his pieces himself, in Das alten Land he also embodied the figure of Josef Meißner at the Cologne Theater and at the Thalia Theater in the world premiere of Hot Money that of Schratz and in 1993 Franz Wassermann in the world premiere of Suicide in Madrid. Since 1989 he has been a freelance writer in Hamburg. In 1985 he received the Mülheim Dramatist Prize, in 1987 he was awarded the Gerhart Hauptmann Prize and in 1990 the Ernst Schneider Prize excellent. For this he received the Schiller Prize in 1983, and in 1984 he was voted dramatist of the year in the critics' survey by Theater heute. He became known in 1984 with the play Das alten Land, which addressed the conflict between refugees and long-time residents in northern Germany after the end of the war. Beginning with Da heaven also took the woman (1979), he wrote many plays with a specific reference to contemporary history. However, his literary work became increasingly important. He also took on various roles in film and television, initially as an actor. Roles there were Concept Fieldt in Peer Gynt, Wagner in Faust I, Ghost of Hamlet's Father in Hamlet and Josip in Platonow. From 1985 to 1989 Pohl was again a member of the Hamburg Thalia Theater. There he played Wladimir in Waiting for Godot under the direction of Jürgen Gosch. 1983 to 1985 he was engaged at the Cologne theater. He made his debut as a director in Rotterdam in 1980 at the RO-T. He then moved to the Thalia Theater and the Schauspielhaus Zürich, where he was seen in 1982 as Just in Jürgen Flimm's production of Minna von Barnhelm. He played Dave in the German premiere of Simon Grays Sorry not available in 1976, Peter in the premiere of Botho Strauss ' Trilogy of Reunion in 1977 and Chanan in Salomon An-ski's Der Dibbuk in 1979, directed by Arie Zinger. He was a member of its ensemble until 1979. In 1976 Ivan Nagel brought him to the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg.
He made his debut at the Freie Volksbühne in 1975. After doing community service in a hospital, he attended the Max Reinhardt School for Drama in Berlin from 1973 to 1974. The Fränkische Anzeiger, based in Rothenburg, responded with a long reflection on the unrest in Christian circles.
After an apprenticeship as a salesman in a local fruit shop, the retail apprentice, inspired by the student movement of the time, first caught on when he rewrote the Christmas carol Silent Night, Holy Night, which was critical of consumption.