Oleg Simakov studied Biology and obtained Diploma degree at the University of Heidelberg, conducting his research in the group of Daniel Rokhsar at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2013 he obtained his PhD working in the group of Detlev Arendt at EMBL Heidelberg. The work was conducted as a part of EMBL International PhD Programme with University of Konstanz, Germany, as a host University.
In 2013 he worked as a research assistant in the group of Thomas Holstein, University of Heidelberg, followed by a postdoctoral appointment at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Molecular Genetics Unit (led by Sydney Brenner and Daniel Rokhsar).
Since 2017 he is a tenure-track group leader at the University of Vienna.