Omar Khairat (Arabic: عمر خيرت) was born in Cairo and belongs to an artistic family. His uncle Abu Bakr Khairat, a music composer, was the founder of of the Music Academy and was its first Dean. In 1959, Omar joined the Academy and studied the piano and musical theory. After graduating, he continued his studies at Trinity College in London. In parallel, he became involved with international popular music and jazz and played the drums for one of the top bands in Cairo, "Le Petit Chats".