His father, Ivan Borisov, was a wounded World War II veteran, who worked as director of Privolzhsk Agricultural Technical School.

After World War II Borisov graduated from a secondary school and applied to study at the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT).

In 1951, Borisov graduated from the MKhAT School of Acting, and joined the troupe of the Lesya Ukrainka National Academic Theater of Russian Drama in Kyiv.

In 1964, director Georgy Tovstonogov invited Oleg Borisov to join the troupe of the Bolshoi Drama Theater (BDT).

There his stage partners were Tatiana Doronina, Lyudmila Makarova, Kirill Lavrov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Yefim Kopelyan, Oleg Basilashvili, Yevgeni Lebedev, Pavel Luspekayev, Sergei Yursky, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Nikolay Trofimov, and other notable Russian actors.

Borisov played memorable roles in several productions, such as, Grigori Melekhov in And Quiet Flows the Don by Mikhail Sholokhov, Prince Harry in King Henry IV (1969 adaptation) by Shakespeare, and Siply in Optimistic Tragedy by Vsevolod Vishnevsky.

At that time he was also invited by director Lev Dodin to perform the leading role in Krotkaya (aka "A Gentle Creature") an adaptation of the eponymous short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Eventually Oleg Borisov ascended to fame in the Soviet and Russian cinema, as he continued his film career in collaboration with such directors as Eldar Ryazanov, Andrei Tarkovsky, Aleksandr Muratov, Aleksei German, Viktor Tregubovich, Vladimir Bortko, Aleksandr Gordon, Vladimir Vengerov, and Vadim Abdrashitov, among other film directors.

His best known roles in film were such works as Gudionov in Sluga by Vadim Abdrashitov, and Naoum Kheifitz in Luna Park by Pavel Lungin.

For several years Borisov was suffering from restrictions in the Soviet film industry, because he did not comply with the ridiculous rules of political obedience.

At the same time Borisov made stage works at the Moscow Central Theatre of the Soviet Army, such as, his acclaimed portrayal of the Emperor Paul I in the eponymous play by Dmitry Merezhkovsky.