Oren Harman was born in Jerusalem on January 25, 1973. He grew up and was educated in Jerusalem and in New York City, where he attended the Collegiate School of Boys and excelled at soccer (he was dubbed "the little Israeli magician" by New York Newsday). He graduated from the Hebrew University Secondary School in Jerusalem.

Harman studied history and biology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he graduated summa cum laude. He then received a Master's degree and D.Phil. with distinction from Oxford University, before spending two years at Harvard University, conducting research and teaching in the Department of History of Science.

Harman was subsequently awarded the prestigious Alon Award for academic excellence. He teaches courses in evolutionary theory, the interplay between scientific, social, and philosophical thought, and writing. He lives in Tel Aviv.

Harman is currently the Chair of the Graduate Program in Science, Technology and Society at Bar Ilan University, Israel. His specialties include the history and philosophy of modern biology, evolutionary theory, the evolution of altruism, twentieth century genetics, and historical biography.

Harman is a frequent contributor to The New Republic, and the co-creator of the Israeli Oscar-nominated documentary series "Did Herzl Really Say That?" His work has been featured in Science, Nature, The New York Times, The London Times, TLS, the New York Review of Books, the Economist, Forbes, The Huffington Post and many others.