Olga Holtz received her Diploma in Applied Mathematics from the Southern Ural State University in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 1995, and her PhD in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, under the guidance of Hans Schneider, in 2000.

She has held a postdoctorate research position in the Computer Science Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Humboldt Fellowship at the Institute of Mathematics of Technical University Berlin, a Morrey Assistant Professorship, and an Associate Professorship in the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley.

She has received a Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, a European Mathematical Society Prize, an ERC Starting Grant, two Von Neumann Fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study, and an AMS Fellowship. Holtz is also an award-winning screenwriter and film director.

Currently, Holtz is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a visiting professor of applied mathematics at Technical University Berlin and Berlin Mathematical School.