He was born on 12 May 1898 in Przemyśl into the family of August and Maria, née Hula. In 1910, he graduated from the Community School in Stryj and entered the local middle school. After the outbreak of the First World War, he interrupted his studies and volunteered for the Second Brigade of the Polish Legions. He was deployed to a mounted reconnaissance unit. On 6 December 1914, he was taken prisoner by the Russians and deported to a forced agricultural labour camp near Yalta. In February 1916, he escaped and made his way to Moscow, where he started working with the Polish Military Organisation. In 1917, he ran a Polish recruitment office in Kiyv, and on 20 February 1918, he joined the Polish II Corps in the East. He took part in the Battle of Kaniów, and then worked on the evacuation of II Corps soldiers from Russia. He did not make it to Murmansk. Arrested several times, he always escaped from prison or captivity. He made his way to Poland through Ukrainian territory.

He joined the reborn Polish Army and was assigned to the 2nd Legions' Infantry Regiment. He took part in the Vilnius Campaign and the Polish-Bolshevik War. He was severely wounded on 27 July 1920 in the Battle of Cicha Wola and was hospitalised until the end of hostilities. After recovery, he returned to duty in his home unit.

He made use of the opportunity to be transferred to the Air Force and on 2 January 1924 was sent to the Pilot School in Bydgoszcz. After completing it, he was sent for further training at the Pilot Training College in Grudziądz. He was assigned to the 3rd Aviation Regiment, transferred to the 5th Aviation Regiment in 1925 and to the 1st Aviation Regiment in 1926. He continued his aviation education, completing a course for escadrille commanders at the Air Force Officer Training Centre in Dęblin. After completing it, he moved to the 4th Aviation Regiment and then to the 5th Aviation Regiment, where he commanded the 56th Companion Escadrille and the 51st Line Escadrille. In 1937, he completed a course at the College of Aviation at the War College in Warsaw and took command of the 2nd Squadron at the 4th Aviation Regiment. After its disbandment, he took command of the air base in Bydgoszcz.

After the outbreak of the Second World War, he supervised the evacuation of the base to the east. On 17 September, following the USSR's aggression against Poland, he was ordered to evacuate his subordinate unit to Romania. He made his way to France where, from October 1939, he took part in the re-establishment of the Polish Air Force. In December, he was one of the first Polish airmen to arrive in the UK. He received training in flying British bomber aircraft and became the first commander of No. 301 (Land of Pomerania) Polish Bomber Squadron. After a year, he handed over command of the Squadron and was assigned to serve in the Inspectorate of the Polish Air Force, and took charge of organising air support for the Union of Armed Struggle. He was assigned to the No. 138 Squadron of the RAF, which was involved in airdropped supplies to occupied countries. He took part in the first flight of the Polish crew to Poland, which was on the night of 7 to 8 November 1941. On the return flight, due to difficult weather conditions and landing gear failure, the pilot decided to make a forced landing in Sweden. The crew was interned, but Roman Rudkowski returned to the UK after a few weeks.

He returned to service in the Polish Air Force. On 25 January 1943, as a Polish WWII special force paratrooper, he was parachuted to Poland. His task was to identify conditions in the country for organising air support in the event of a general uprising upon the withdrawal of German troops. In Poland, as Ludwik Fedorowski, he developed the structure of the Aviation Department of the Home Army Headquarters and organised underground aviation training. In addition, he contributed to the development of underground production of weapons (including the famous Sten guns) and radios.

He left Poland on the night of 29–30 May 1944 under Operation Wildhorn II. In the UK, he was assigned to the Commander in Chief's Staff and was appointed Deputy Commander of the Polish Air Force for National Affairs. On 17 October 1944, he parachuted into occupied Poland for the second time. His task was to identify the situation in the country, the atmosphere among the general population and the condition of the Home Army after the end of the Warsaw Uprising. At Home Army Headquarters, he took command of the Aviation and Air Transfer Division. In December, he received members of the British military mission and put them in touch with Gen. Leopold Okulicki.

The Soviet military counter-intelligence service "Smersh" arrested Rudkowski on 13 March 1945 and handed him over to the security officers of the Polish People's Republic. He was taken to a prison in Łódź, from where he was transferred to Warsaw. He was submitted to numerous interrogations. In the indictment, he was accused of belonging to an illegal organisation and of failing to register with the District Draft Headquarters. Rudkowski remained in contact with Home Army soldiers, and was visited in prison by a liaison officer who sought his release from Minister Stanisław Radkiewicz. He also sent a memorandum to Marshal Michał Rola-Żymierski (he knew him from the Legions), in which he presented his own concept for the formation of the Polish Air Force.

It is not known which measures were successful, however, Rudkowski regained his freedom on 10 July 1945. He found employment in a private company but continued to be under surveillance from the security services. In November 1948, threatened with re-arrest, he went into hiding. In mid-1948, via Sweden, he arrived in London. He was made a British national in 1950 and was active in Polish organisations in the UK.

He died on 14 March 1954 in Fulham and was buried in North Street Cemetery, London.

For his service, he was decorated with, among others, the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari (no. 60), the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari, the Cross of Independence, the Cross of Valour three times, the Gold Cross of Merit with Swords and the Field Pilot Badge.