Olaf Katzer studied music and psychology in Munich, Weimar and Dresden. While still a student, he founded the Ensemble AuditivVokal Dresden, which he has artistically directed ever since.
Over 120 premieres, guest performances at numerous festivals and radio recordings document his commitment to "contemporary" vocal music. Concert tours have taken him to almost all European countries, as well as to Taiwan, China, the USA and South America. In transdisciplinary exchange with singers, instrumentalists, dancers, composers, painters, directors and scientists, he develops a contemporary ensemble art for the 21st century in sustained and unconventional programming.
He got invited as a conductor of ensembles such as the RIAS Kammerchor, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, the MDR Rundfunkchor and the Dresdner Kammerchor. Since 2011 he has been a lecturer for choral conducting at the Dresden University of Music, since the academic year 2015/16 in the function of substitute professor for choral conducting. In 2019 Olaf Katzer received the Förderpreis der Landeshauptstadt Dresden and in 2020 the Arras Prize.