Kovacsóczy was born into a Transylvanian noble family of Slavonic origin. His parents were János Kovacsóczy, who fled from Slavonia due to the Ottoman invasion, and Erzsébet Török de Buda. He had two siblings.
He married Kata Farkas de Harina first in 1581, three sons (including István) and two daughters were born. He married for the second time to Krisztina Kendi de Szarvaskend, they had no children. His father-in-law was Sándor Kendi, a member of the Transylvanian Royal Council and father of István Kendi, who was elected Chancellor in 1608.
He accompanied the prince to Poland in 1576, where he served as secretary for the Transylvanian affairs at the Royal Chancellery in Kraków. He returned home in 1578 and was appointed Chancellor beside voivodeChristopher Báthory, who took on state affairs on behalf of his brother. Christopher died in 1581 and was succeeded by his son, Sigismund Báthory in the office of the Voivode. Stephen Báthory established a three-member Regent Council beside the underage Sigismund. Between 1583 and 1585, Kovacsóczy served on that council, along with his future father-in-law Sándor Kendi and László Sombori.
Kovacsóczy participated in the royal election of 1587 in Poland as envoy of the Prince of Transylvania. In 1594, he strongly opposed the turn against the Ottomans and the alliance with the Habsburg Empire, along with Balthasar Báthory, cousin of prince Sigismund, and Sándor Kendi. He considered Sigismund's decision dangerous. As a result, the opposition magnate was arrested by the prince. Farkas Kovacsóczy was strangled to death in the prison of Szamosújvár (today: Gherla, Romania) on 11 September 1594.
Works
De administratione Transylvaniae (The administration of Transylvania; 1584)
Markó, László: A magyar állam főméltóságai Szent Istvántól napjainkig – Életrajzi Lexikon p. 113.(The High Officers of the Hungarian State from Saint Stephen to the Present Days – A Biographical Encyclopedia) (2nd edition); Helikon Kiadó Kft., 2006, Budapest; ISBN963-547-085-1.
Trócsányi, Zsolt: Erdély központi kormányzata 1540–1690. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1980. ISBN963 05 2327 2