Olaf Bär lives in his home town of Dresden where he started his musical education as a member of the boy choir Dresdner Kreuzchor.
As winner of the inaugural Walther Gruner Lieder Competition, Olaf Bär was launched on an international career. Olaf Bär has appeared worldwide in recitals and concerts and has made major tours in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and America.
For many years he was a principal member of the Semper Oper Dresden. As an opera singer Olaf Bär has appeared at Covent Garden, at La Scala di Milano, at the Opera Houses in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Zurich, Chicago, Rome, Napels and Turin and at the Glyndebourne, Salzburg, Bayreuth, Aix-en-Provence, Wiener Festwochen and Ruhr-Trienale Festivals.
He has done numerous recordings with EMI, Decca, Philips and other companies.
In 1998 Olaf Bär was awarded the Schumann-Preis of the city of Zwickau.
Since 2004 Olaf Bär is a regular professor for interpretation of Lieder at Hochschule für Musik in Dresden.
Olaf Bär is regularly invited as juror in numerous international singing competitions and to give masterclasses, specialising in the interpretation of German Lieder.