Born in Messini in 1933, he studied printmaking at the AFSA (1952-1958) under Y. Moralis and Y. Kefallinos. In 1962-1966 he continued at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris on a Greek state scholarship, under R. Cami in woodcut and E. Clairin in lithography, and specialised in book art at the Ecole Estienne. Upon his return to Greece in 1966 he joined the Doxiadis School as teacher and was head of the Decoration Dept from 1971 to 1976. In 1978 he was elected professor at the Graphic Design Dept of KATEE (subsequently Athens TEI), where he taught until 1986.
His first solo exhibition at the Zygos Gallery (1960) featured prints with the visible influence of Kefallinos. His studies in Paris had a decisive effect in shaping his personal visual idiom. Employing many features of geometric and expressionistic abstraction, he creates works of great expressive power. His subjects, mainly landscapes and everyday scenes, are rendered with particular emphasis on light and colour. Many of his prints convey a strong painterly feeling which attests to the close relationship of printmaking and painting throughout his oeuvre.
He has also designed, illustrated and edited books, albums and calendars and designed many series of Greek and Cypriot postage stamps. He was for many years the artistic director for the publications of the National Bank, and served as art advisor to the Aspioti-Elka publishing company (1986-1988). Much of his activity has centred on typography. As part of the Athens TEI’s research programmes, he designed two new Greek fonts (Apollonia and Katsoulidis) for phototypesetting (AGFA). He has designed a total of ten Greek alphabets to this day.
He has presented his work in 35 solo exhibitions of painting and printmaking, and has participated in dozens of group shows in Greece and abroad. He has received awards and distinctions (1st printmaking award, Panhellenic Youth Exhibition, 1961; Medal, International painting Exhibition, Ostend 1976, etc.), and in 2008 he was awarded by the Academy of Athens for his entire oeuvre. In 2012 the Municipality of Messini opened the Takis Katsoulidis Printmaking Museum, featuring 200 prints, 20 paintings, 6 art albums, one 19th-century lithography press and woodcut blocks donated by the artist.