Born in Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and Traunsee. Between 1972 and 1978, he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. From 1978 to 1982, while working as an editor for the Vienna-based newspaper "Extrablatt", his articles and essays were published in magazines like GEO, TransAtlantik, and Merian. After the publication of his novel "Die letzte Welt" in 1988, he traveled extensively in Ireland, Asia, and North and South America. In 1994, he moved to West Cork, Ireland. In 2018, Ransmayr won the Nicolas Born Prize and was also nominated for the International MAN Booker Prize.