Ingolič was born in Spodnja Polskava near Slovenska Bistrica in the Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Styria (present-day eastern Slovenia).

He went to the local school and completed his secondary education in Maribor before studying in Ljubljana and Paris.

He worked as a secondary-school Slovene and French language teacher in Ptuj, Maribor, and Ljubljana.

[1] He was editor of the journal Nova Obzorja and became a member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1976.

[2] He won the Prešeren Award twice, in 1949 for his novel Pot po nasipu and in 1978 for his literary opus for youth and adults.