From 1999 on, Uğur worked as a photographer, expedition coordinator, and editor for the Turkish nature and outdoor sports magazine Atlas.

Uğur was an influential figure in the Turkish mountaineering community, with a very strong and dedicated personality and an extremely high intellectual capacity.

Professionally, he was a lecturer at the Marmara University in Istanbul and was also an active member of the Communist Party of Turkey for over 20 years.

[citation needed] Uğur Uluocak died on 2 July 2003 while on a descent in the Alarcha Mountain in Kyrgyzstan when a rock broke off and he took a 4,200 metres (13,800 ft) fall.

His body was recovered by his teammates Haldun Ülkenli and Alper Işın Duran and brought to his homeland for burial.