Olbrychski was born in 1945 in Łowicz, Poland to father Franciszek and mother Klementyna (née Sołonowicz).[6] In 1971 he won the award for Best Actor at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in The Birch Wood.[7] He played one of the leading roles in Volker Schlöndorff's film The Tin Drum based on Günter Grass's novel Die Blechtrommel.The same year, Olbrychski received the French Legion of Honor (L'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur).[11] Throughout his career, he appeared in five Academy Award-nominated films, two of which won the award (The Tin Drum, 1979 and Dangerous Moves, 1984).