Dragutin Orak was born in Gornja Rijeka, Croatia, in 1937. He started secondary education in Bjelovar in 1949, and finished it in Križevci in 1952. During his education in Bjelovar, he was included in the post-war Bjelovar Workers' University (Bjelovarsko radničko sveučiliste) where he met Franjo Vilhelm and Ivan Generalić, who taught him to draw and paint.
He wanted to attend School of Fine Arts, but as he did not get the scholarship for it, he enrolled in Educational School (Učiteljska škola) in 1952. In 1952 he joined the art group "Vladimir Nazor", led by V. Puževski, with which he participated in numerous exhibitions.
During that time he worked with "Polet", the high school arts and culture magazine. He graduated from Teacher training college (Viša pedagoška škola) in Zagreb with a degree in arts in 1963.
In 1987 he became a Bachelor of Arts at Faculty of Pedagogy (Pedagoški fakultet) in Rijeka, Croatia. While working as an Arts teacher in primary school "Ljudevit Modec" in Križevci, he paints and participates in numerous exhibitions in the country and in the world.

Address: Dragutina Renarića 35, 48260 Križevci, Croatia Telephone: 048-682-490 - home 048-681-677 - work
www.krizevci.net/orak
e-mail:orak@hi.hinet.hr