Matthias Strolz was born on 10 June 1973 in Bludenz, a district capital in Vorarlberg, and grew up in Wald am Arlberg, part of the town of Dalaas, in the Klostertal.

In the course of his studies, Matthias Strolz was elected as a member of the AktionsGemeinschaft in 1996 as chairman of the Austrian Students' Association at the University of Innsbruck.

In 2000, Matthias Strolz gained the qualification as a certified business consultant, on the other hand he became a trainee at the Federation of Austrian Industries, where he worked as a freelance coach and presenter since 1997.

At the same time, Strolz became a parliamentary employee of the Vorarlberg ÖVP National Council member Karlheinz Kopf.

In 2003 Matthias Strolz obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on organizational development at the Faculty for Interdisciplinary Research and Continuing Education at the University of Klagenfurt.