He was the third and youngest son of Duke Bolko I of Opole by his wife Agnes, probably daughter of Margrave Otto III of Brandenburg.

He was the second and last member of the Piast dynasty who bore this name (the first was a son of Władysław II the Exile).

After his father's death in 1313 Albert and his older brother Bolko II inherited Opole, but because both are minors at that time, the regency was held by their oldest brother Bolesław the Elder until 1323, when they assumed the full government over his domains; however, soon after Albert and Bolko II decided to make the formal division of their domains: Bolko II retain the main city of Opole and Albert took Strzelce.

In 1327, he became a vassal of the Bohemian crown; but, for unknown reasons, he didn't paid homage to King John of Luxembourg with the other Silesian Dukes in Opawa.

In 1347, Albert married with Agnes (d. 27 May 1371), daughter of Count Burchard I of Hardegg, Burgrave of Magdeburg.