Çağan Irmak was born in Izmir in 1970. He graduated from Aegean University, School of Press and Broadcasting from the department of Radio-TV. He has been awarded the "Sedat Simavi" prize for his short films "Fairy-Tale" and "Victim", which were shot during his time at university. In 1992 he started working in the movie industry as an assistant director to various acclaimed directors. A few of these directors are as following: Orhan Oğuz, Mahinur Ergun, Filiz Kaynak and Yusuf Kurçenli. His short film "Play Me Old and Wise", which he both wrote and directed himself, was awarded the first runner up prize at IFSAK (Istanbul Photography and Cinema Association) in 1998 and then went on to be screened at the London Film Festival.

After his extensive experience as an assistant director, Irmak started to work as a director in television and quickly made a name for himself with his original style of storytelling and his technical expertise. He eventually became a household name with two projects; ‘Asmalı Konak’(2002), which was also shown on Greek television, and ‘Çemberimde Gül Oya’(2004), which was a project that he had written himself and had managed to shed light on a specific period of political history bringing a wide range of audiences together despite their generational gaps.

His first feature film "Wish Me Luck" was produced in 2001. In 2004 his second feature film which he had both written and directed, "All About Mustafa", was highly acclaimed by film critics. In 2005 his third feature film, which he again had both written and directed, "My Father and Son" was awarded the "Best Director", "Best Screenplay" and "Best Picture" prizes by the Turkish Film Critics’ Association.