Oliver Lammert was born in Wiesbaden in 1965. From 1989 until 1995, he studied film and design at the "Hamburger Hochschule für bildende Künste" (HfbK). Following his graduation, he and Madeleine Dewald co- founded the film production company DOCK 43 in 1995. Together they worked on several projects, including the film historical CD-ROM "Zwischen Avantgarde und Nationalsozialismus" (1996) and the film essay "Vom Hirschkäfer zum Hakenkreuz" (1997-2001), which addresses the evolvement and changing history of visual manipulation and the ideological and seductive power of pictures. From 1999 until 2001, Lammert also worked as managing and creative director for "No Secrets Media", a media production company.

After working several years on the project, he and Madeleine Dewald completed their non-fictional film essay "Global Viral. Die Virus-Metapher" in 2010. The film, which ponders the different forms and manifestations of "viruses" in nature, technology and society, was released in Summer 2012.