Sándor Olasz was born in Hódmezővásárhely on 19 July 1949. He graduated in 1967 from Gábor Bethlen High School in his birthplace. After high school, he graduated in 1973 from the University of Szeged as a Literature and French teacher. In 1973, he was made a member of the permanent editorial staff of the periodical Tiszatáj, and he served as the main editor between 1996 and 2011. Tiszatáj is a literary, artistic, social, and academic periodical which publishes a diverse range of writings and articles.

From 1979 until his death, Olasz worked as a professor at the University of Szeged in the Department of Modern Hungarian Literature. His main research areas included modern Hungarian novels, especially the works of László Németh. He was a member of several societies, for instance the Association of Hungarian Writers, the General Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Society of Hungarian Literary History, and the International Association of Hungarian Philology. Olasz received numerals national honors for his work. He died on 21 February 2011.