David Schütz was born in Berlin in 1941 as Dietmar Engbert Müllner Bauer Schütz. His parents were Laga Braun and Rudolf Bauer. David Schütz arrived in Israel with his brother in 1948 as part of the Youth Aliya. Most of his teenage years were spent in the Youth Village Nitzanim and his experiences there provided the inspiration for his writing.

After serving as an officer in the artillery corps, he studied for a B.A. degree in History and Philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by an M.A. degree in History. His Masters degree was on Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, supervised by Prof. Joshua Prawer, the notable Israeli historian. Whilst writing his doctorate he decided to change his professional aspirations and become a writer instead.

In 1974 David Schütz married Tzipi Shamir, a clinical psychologist, and they had two daughters. After their divorce, he had another daughter with his current partner.

Schütz's first book, The Grass and the Sand was published in 1978 when he was 37, and was translated into French and German. In the 80's and 90's, Schütz wrote another 8 books, including White Rose, Red Rose and I Shall Wait Forever. In addition to his literary activities, Schütz has produced many movies, and has been a producer and VP of the Israeli Film Service. Schütz has won many literary awards and his books have been translated into a number of languages.