Ondjaki studied sociology at the University of Luanda, and wrote his thesis on Angolan writer Luandino Vieira.

Ondjaki's literary debut came in 2000 with the poetry book Actu Sanguíneu, which was followed up with the childhood memoir Bom dia, camaradas ("Good Morning, comrades"), in 2001.

In 2012, he was named by Zukiswa Wanner in The Guardian as one of the "top five African writers" (alongside Léonora Miano, H. J. Golakai, Chika Unigwe and Thando Mgqolozana).

[1] He is one of 39 writers aged under 40 from sub-Saharan Africa who in April 2014 were chosen as part of the Hay Festival's prestigious Africa39 project.

[2] In October 2010 he won the Premio Jabuti, in the juvenile category, with the book AvóDezanove e o Segredo do Soviético.