He was born in Ankara in 1963. While he was a kid, he began studying music at primary school.

In 1973 he has been accepted to the Ankara State Concervatory Clarinet Department and started his professional musical education under the direction of Doç. Aykut Doğansoy. During ten succesfull years at conservatory, he gave many solo concerts, chamber music and orchestra concerts in Turkey and some other countries. In 1982, he studied chamber music with Prof. Antonio Janigro at “Mozarteum Music Academy” in Salzburg, Austria.

In 1983 he graduated from Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory with the highest ranking and got the “İhsan Doğramacı Üstün Başarı Ödülü” excellence prize.

After this successful graduation, he participated “International Youth Festival” Abeerden, Scotland and played principal clarinet with the Festival Orchestra and he studied clarinet and chamber music with Prof. Lewis Morrison.

In the semester of 1983-1984, he started to work at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory as an instructor of Clarinet.

As an instructor and a soloist he gave many concerts in Turkey and also in Germany, England, Cyprus, Holland, Scotland, Italy, Austria, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland, Letonia, Estonia, China, Kosovo, Pakistan and Syria.

He played various composers pieces as a soloist with İzmir Symphony Orchestra, İstanbul Symphony Orchestra, Bursa Symphony Orchestra, Eskişehir Municipality Symphony Orchestra and also with Turkish Air Forces Big Band Orchestra.

On 3 July 1995 he played the premier of the Clarinet Concerto by Turgay Erdener, which is a piece inspired by his clarinet playing style, with the accompaniment of Presidential Symphony Orchestra directed by Antonio Pirolli.

Ekrem Öztan is now still working at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory as an instructor and he is the head of the Wind and Percussion Department.