Born in 1967 in Dresden, Germany. Olaf Holzapfel lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Olaf Holzapfel is particularly interested in how history, culture and architecture intersect and interact, and how these interactions can be examined and reinterpreted through art. His work is often characterised by repetitive patterns and organic forms, which are inspired by both nature and human constructions.

After studying Fine Arts at the HfBK Dresden and at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, India, he received an MFA in 2003. He was in residence at Columbia University in New York and taught as a visiting professor at the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe and HfBK Hamburg, Germany. Olaf Holzapfel has participated in numerous solo exhibitions, including Xippas Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland (2023); the MEK Museum Europäischer Kulturen, Berlin-Dahlem, Germany (2022); Daniel Marzona Gallery in Berlin, Germany (2022, 2019, 2016); Sabine Knust Gallery in Munich, Germany (2022, 2014); the Bündner Kunstmuseum in Chur, Switzerland (2021); the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Salta, Argentina (2021); the Kunsthaus Dresden, Dresden, Germany (2020); Centro Cultural Parque de España, Argentina (2020); Abbaye de Schönthal, Langenbruck, Switzerland (2018); the Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel (2015); the Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum, Germany (2015); the Lindianau-Museum, Altenburg, Germany (2014); the Leonhardi Museum, Dresden, Germany (2012) or the Kunstmuseum Mülheim, Mülheim, Germany (2009). His work has also been shown in several group exhibitions at Lenbachhaus, München, Germany (2023); BuGa-Gelände, Mannheim, Germany (2023); the Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany (2023, 2019, 2018); the Kunstsammlungen am theaterplatz, Chemnitz, Germany (2022); Kulturhistorisches Museum Franziskanerkloster, Zittau, Germany (2022); MAC, Lyon, France (2022); BIENALSUR, Fundación Migliorisi, Grabadores del Kabichu’i, Asunción, Paraguay (2021); the Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, Switzerland (2021); Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Kleve, Germany (2020); NeMe Arts Centre Limassol, Cyprus (2020); Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2018); documenta 14, Kassel, Germany, Athens, Greece (2017); Museo Escuela antigua, Cerro Castillo, Chile (2013); Nationalmuseum Oslo for Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway (2013); the Latin American Pavilion, Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy (2011) or Art Unlimited at Art Basel, Switzerland (2006).

His work is part of institutional and private collections such as the Robelin collection and the collection of the Federal Republic of Germany.