Fritz Koller grew up on a farm. He spent only a few years in elementary school to become an agricultural worker and gardener later on. He was sixteen when he enlisted to fight against the Russian army — a traumatic experience. Once the war ended, whenever he heard voices or commands given over the radio, he covered his ears, fearing being shot. Confined to the psychiatric hospital of Gugging in 1946, he remained there until his death. He started to draw quite late in his life. In his drawings he decomposes figures and objects to form abstract networks.