Albrecht Dold was born in Triberg, and studied mathematics and physics at Heidelberg University, earning a Ph.D. degree in 1954 under the direction of Herbert Seifert.

In 1963 he returned to Heidelberg, where he stayed most of his career, till his retirement in 1996.

His book "Lectures on Algebraic Topology" is a standard reference among economists as well as mathematicians.

He had 19 doctoral students, including Mónica Clapp, Eberhard Freitag, Volker Puppe, and Carl-Friedrich Bödigheimer, as well as 58 descendants.

Dold was married to Yvonne Dold-Samplonius, a distinguished historian of mathematics.