Ondřej Kukal was born Prague in 1964. From 1979–1985 he studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory and then continued his studies with Josef Vlach at the Prague Music Academy. From 1985–1990 he studied composition with Jindřich Feld and conducting with Vladimír Válek.
He concluded his composition studies with the performance of his own violin concerto. In 1999 Mr. Kukal received a Bavarian Government grant, which allowed him to spend one year in the Bamberg Villa Concordia.
In 1996 he accepted the position of concertmaster of the Prague Chamber Orchestra. The same year he became the conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Czech Radio. In 1998 he conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra as a visiting conductor.
Since 2002 he has been the chief conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra Hradec Králové.