Özdemir Sabancı was born in May 15, 1941 in Adana.
After graduating from the Tarsus American College he got his Bsc. in Chemical engineering from the University of Manchester, Institute of Science Technology ( UMIST ) in Manchester, U.K.
He established and developed SASA Synthetic Fibres Inc. which is one of the largest industrial companies of the Sabancı Group.
His visionary leadership was instrumental entering into the automotive sector. During his short span of life, TEMSA started to produce Mitsubishi busses and trucks, Komatsu construction equipment, loaders and forklifts and became the leader in its sector. In 1990 he established the TOYOTASA joint venture, the largest Turkish - Japanese partnership in Turkey ; to produce Toyota cars.
He was the Synthetic Fiber, Automotive and Plastics Group President which included following companies: Sasa, Temsa, Toyotasa, Pilsa, Yazakisa, Sapeksa and Akkardansa.