The books, about Henry VIII's adviser Thomas Cromwell, are being adapted by Peter Straughan who co-wrote the 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said the channel was "very fortunate" to have the rights to the two novels.
The six-part series is expected to be broadcast late next year.
Wolf Hall was propelled into the bestseller lists after winning the Booker Prize in 2009.
It tells the fictionalised account of Cromwell's rise and fall in the Tudor Court.
Its sequel Bring Up The Bodies, which focuses on Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn, has been longlisted for this year's prize.
The shortlist will be announced on 11 September.
Mantel revealed in November she had plans for a third instalment, to be called The Mirror and the Light.
The book will continue Cromwell's story until his execution in 1540.
Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novel Wolf Hall is to be adapted for BBC Two, along with its follow-up Bring Up the Bodies.