[1][2] He graduated from Uppsala University in 1967 and enrolled in postgraduate studies in Umeå in 1968.
He earned his Ph.D. at Umeå University in 1972 with the Thesis Some effects of light intensity and iron deficiency on pigmentation and photosynthesis in the blue-green alga Anacystis nidulans.
After two years at Lund University he returned to Umeå in 1976 and was made a professor in 1981.
Öquist's field of research has been the adaptation of photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, algae and higher plants when they are submitted to variations in light intensity, temperature, supply of water or supply of nutrition.
[4] On 1 July 2010 Öquist retired from the post and was succeeded by Staffan Normark.